A margarita is supposed to have a bit of that tequila burn on the way down, but what allegedly happened at a North Carolina Chili’s this week was horrific.
Three customers at the chain’s Forest City location allegedly suffered chemical burns in and around their mouths Wednesday after an employee accidentally used a granulated degreaser to prepare their margaritas, according to the Foothills Health District. The employee supposedly thought it was sugar. Customers immediately noticed something was wrong, alerted the staff, and left to seek medical attention.
And how an industrial cleaning chemical ended up anywhere near the margarita station is a story in itself.
Three Chili’s Customers Hospitalized After Industrial Cleaner Ends Up in Their Margaritas
On Monday, a contractor was power-washing the outside of the restaurant when a worker took some degreaser and put it in an unlabeled container. It somehow ended up inside the restaurant, behind the bar, where another employee found it Wednesday while preparing for lunch service. Mistaking the granules for sugar, the employee used them to prepare the margaritas.
After customers reported something was wrong, two employees tasted the powder themselves and developed similar symptoms. The health district suspended Chili’s food service permit and ordered a thorough cleaning of the affected equipment and surfaces. By Thursday morning, inspectors had returned, and the restaurant was allowed to reopen after passing its food safety inspection.
Health District Director Jason Masters said the incident demonstrated why restaurants need to properly label, store, and handle cleaning chemicals.
One regular customer wasn’t exactly eager to return. Levonne Baker told WLOS News 13 he was nervous about sitting at the bar again. With an auto shop and urgent care next door, he joked about becoming the next person “going next door. And not for an oil change.”
Unfortunately, the Chili’s incident isn’t the first time a restaurant has mistaken a dangerous cleaning product for something edible.
In 2014, an employee at a Utah Dickey’s Barbecue Pit confused a lye-based fryer cleaner with sugar, and the chemical eventually ended up in the restaurant’s sweet tea. Jan Harding, 67, suffered severe burns to her esophagus and spent nearly two weeks in the hospital.
A similar incident in Oklahoma had an even more tragic outcome. Elementary school teacher Holly Hill was reportedly served a margarita containing an industrial degreaser at a restaurant in Elgin in February 2023. Her family said the chemical damaged her esophagus and caused years of medical complications before her death in October 2025. The restaurant acknowledged the incident, while the family attributed her death to the injuries.
Busy restaurants make mistakes, but an unlabeled container of white powder sitting behind the bar should set off alarms for anyone. Label your chemicals, people.
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