Kevin Hansen ordered a steak at a Texas Roadhouse in West Bend, Milwaukee and bit into it. After three bites, he noticed something odd. A foreign object. It wasn’t a prize, or a coupon for a free drink. It was human facial hair, placed in his steak by cook Ryan Kropp. Hansen wasn’t the only victim of Koop’s follicle-spreading-spree. According to the criminal complaint, later that night Kropp placed hair in a second steak, turned to a co-worker, and announced, “These are my pubes.” The cook was charged with a felony count of putting a foreign object in food, punishable by a max of 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Beware ye, consumer, of the wrath of the underpaid restaurant staff.
(Thanks to Jay!)
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I never got why cooks do shit like this. Servers, sure. They take the brunt of the asshole customers, but the cooks don’t know who the food is going to.
This is why I don’t fly.
OK, just gag me. 8-P
Hope the cook gets the maximum.
Its the victims fault for going out to order a steak. I always prepare my steaks at home, with my own pubic hair.
That was sarcasm, FYI.
Whoa… At least it didn’t have any “Special Sauce”…
Now I know where the kitchen staff of Shenanigans wound up.
@zibby:
Ummmm, OK.
No, wait, Huh?
Okay?? And how did this end???
The funniest thing about this is the Warning: Graphic Content notice WTMJ placed on the story. I guess talking about pubic hairs on sandwiches would upset a lot of people.
Yeah, the cook is just underpaid. That’s why he puts hair in peoples food. *rollseyes*
What in the hell is wrong with people?!
Why just last night I enjoyed some red snapper with pubic hair.
@kublaconsumer: Are you defending him? You need to elaborate.
Why were there people copulating in the meat freezer?!
Is his name Kropp or Koop? I’m confused.
I don’t know why this was posted to the Consumerist because now everybody is going to want/demand one at the Roadhouse.
Eeewwww, I just got my lunch
He should be forced to eat steak with someone else’s pubic hair.
Two Fat Ladies had this recipe several years ago on their show, except I think they used lamb.
Well, maybe it was delicious. Didja ever think of that?
This guy should be charged with aggravated assault. He should be tested for communicable diseases (such as hepatitis)and barred from working in the restaurant business again.I don’t give a damn how little you make or what a bunch of asshats run your company,this is just wrong.
Mmmmm, just like mom use to make.
@arch05: I believe kublaconsumer was implying that people don’t do this because they’re “underpaid,” but because they’re “douchebags.”
@arch05: I think kublaconsumer is calling the cook a nut.
Normal people who are underpaid might work slower or sloppier but they do not put body hair into food. This is the behavior of someone who is either a nut or an unbelievable asshole.
good one. I believe you got the first..customers fault comment…and definitely why would you get strangers pubes when you can have your own?@statnut:
Just because you get poverty wages doesn’t mean you automatically lack pride in your job.
@RogueSophist: that’s how I read it too, I don’t think he was defending the cook
You have to have a license to fish, but not to cook that fish for people. Based on this story, I can’t see how restaurant chains at least don’t just implement their own licensing system to keep these people from getting back into the food prep service.
@RogueSophist: @Rectilinear Propagation: That was my initial thought, I just wanted some confirmation before I went off on an incorrectly-directed flame-bomb rant.
I think if people knew how common things like this are, they’d eat out a lot less–I’ve heard some pretty bad stories from my friends. Then again, my friends are douchebags.
This actually how the potato chip was invented. (It wasn’t through gross human biology/anatomy though.)
Some chef who had his potato slices returned and insulted by a patron. So in his plot for revenge, he cut them extra thin, fried them, and then caked them in salt. They were an instant hit!
Anybody that watches AFN should know what I’m talking about. As bad as some of the commercials were, it was almost like the History Channel.
Awful. But at least the cook averred from depositing his fluids on the food.
My parents love going to that restaurant where that happened. I was at that one once and wasn’t that impressed. I don’t need to go to a place where the waitstaff takes time out from giving me my food to do some stupid dance. I wonder if they’ll go back after hearing about this. I know the guy is gone, but still, doesn’t really say much for the people they hire, or that I went to school with for that matter…
BTW, it’s West Bend, WI. Not West Bend, Milwaukee. West Bend is about a half hour or so northwest of Milwaukee.
Facial or pubic?
Many states require food handlers to get a license, which requires a TB and hepatitis test. However, not all states do. Because of stuff like this (which is more common than you may think, especially at chains and places frequented by asshole customers), and because I’ve known some crazy SOBs in my time in the kitchen, it should really be mandatory.
Best way to manage your risk is to avoid those places.
Love the misleading, sensationalist headline. *rolleyes*
It was facial hair, he only called it pubic hair.
If you wrote all your headlines based on the subjects’ claims as opposed to what was actually going on, Consumerist would be full of articles like “Geek Squad Fast, Knowledgeable and Ethical”, “X-Box Solid, Lasts Forever and Ever”, and “Comcast Makes People Happy”.
Got to tell you, I really enjoy “Bearded Clams”
Ah, yes, the ol’ Steak-n-Floss special.
I’ve worked in kitchens and only the sickest bastard did crap like this. Once.
@bluewyvern:
“A coworker of Kropp’s says in the complaint says that later on that night, Kropp took a second steak, put hair in it, and told his coworker, “these are my pubes.”"
Seeing as not even the original article elaborates on whether or not this part was true, I don’t think it’s necessary to call the headline “sensationalist.”
It’s disgusting either way.
@bluewyvern: One steak had facial hair. A second one had a hair that the cook claimed was pubic hair. SO. The article states one steak had facial hair and a second steak had pubic hair, according to the cook. Whether or not it was pubic hair, who knows. There should be follow-up or clarification on that point. Unless the co-worker prevented the second steak from getting served, but either way it could’ve been kept as evidence even if it wasn’t actually served, the guy had the intention of sending it out before he went and blabbed about it.
@deserthiker: …and if I find a noodle in here, I’m not paying for this either!
@synergy:
Get CSI in here stat! I am sure that an electron microscope, some luminal and a black lite will answer all of our questions.
Oh! You mean you didn’t ask for the Clarence Thomas cut? My mistake.
@bluewyvern: dude what headline isn’t trying to mislead you? even the ones that say “geek squad fast, knowledgeable, and ethical” are misleading you. being good at it is kinda a job requirement. not too many papers want you to make a headline to sound dull and uninteresting. that kinda defeats the purpose.
You can’t mix Mexican with Continental!
As another person noted, it’s ridiculous that Consumerist put a small automatic defense in by saying “underpaid”. That’s basically code for “raise minimum wage to $20 an hour and this will never happen”. Which is absurd.
@Snarkysnake: how do you bar someone from working in restaurants again? guess it made you feel good to say that?
this is why one should shave their pubes. its the thing to do now anyway, right?
and texas roadhouse hates us for our freedoms.
Well, thanks to the fact he’s on charges for a felony. If he’s convicted it’ll show up on his criminal record. That will effectively keep him from working in the restaurant business ever again. No restaurant owner would want exposure to that kind of liabiliy. That would be a slam dunk lawsuit if a restaurant knowingly hired an individual convicted of inserting forein objects into food who continued his doctoring spree.
most restaurants don’t do criminal background checks. as a former manager, what we were told to do in an interview is to tell them everything looks good, we just need to do a background check first, now before i do, is there anything on there you want to tell your side of the story on first?
you basically are trying to scare them into telling you about anything on there so you don’t have to spend the money to actually pull one. i have a friend whos a convicted felon, who alwyas lies about it on applications, and never confesses them either, on the chance they won’t pull one.
@snoop-blog:
good to know!