Police to Meet With Virginia Restaurant Staff After Officer Is Allegedly Refused Service

A sign expressing support for officers was hung at the restaurant Tuesday evening

What to Know

  • A meeting is planned between police and workers at a Virginia restaurant after a cook there allegedly refused to serve a police officer.
  • "I ain't serving that," a cook at Noodles & Company reportedly said.
  • A sign expressing support for police officers was posted in the window of the restaurant Tuesday evening.

Police officers will meet with employees of a restaurant in Northern Virginia after a cook there allegedly refused to serve a police officer in uniform.

Members of the Alexandria Police Department likely will meet with employees of the Noodles & Company restaurant on Duke Street next week, a police department representative said. The intention of the meeting is to continue dialogue about concerns.

A female police officer working the evening shift stopped by Noodles & Company Monday night, a representative of the local police union said. 

As the officer stood in line, a cook exited the kitchen, approached the cashier and pointed at the officer, Alexandria Committee of Police Vice President Peter Feltham said he was told. 

"You’ve got to take me off the line, I ain’t serving that," the cook allegedly said.

“The officer realized what was happening and rather than making an incident of it, the officer just left the business,” Feltham said.

An Alexandria Police Officer says a cook at a popular restaurant refused to cook for her. Northern Virginia Bureau Reporter David Culver reports.

Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook and a representative of the Alexandria Police Union met with restaurant management on Tuesday.

“These are very difficult times right now in our relations with everyone, and to have one of my officers treated in that manner unnecessarily, your first response is anger,” Cook said. “Then you calm down a bit and say, let’s just find out what happened.”

Noodles & Company told News4 the company does not “tolerate any form of discrimination.” The restaurant said managers reached out to the officer but have not spoken with her yet.

The restaurant said it is interviewing the employees allegedly involved.

“We will continue to look into the situation and will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of this review,” Noodles & Company said in a statement.

A sign with this message was posted in the window of the restaurant Tuesday evening: "We are proud to support our local police officers and public safety personnel."

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