Chili's Restaurant Apologizes After Army Veteran Denied Meal When Military Service Questioned (Video)

DALLAS, TX — Dallas-based restaurant chain Chili's Grill & Bar has apologized after the manager at one of its locations took away a free meal from an African- American man on Veterans Day, disbelieving the patron was a U.S. Army veteran.

Ernest Walker, 47, of Cedar Hill, Texas, said he was served the food in keeping with tradition of offering veterans free meals on Veterans Day. But another patron, an elderly man wearing an American flag shirt with an affixed sticker lauding Donald Trump, approached the man to question his past service, Walker wrote on his Facebook page.

"He asked if I was in the 24th unit, and I said 'no the 25th.' TRICK QUESTION. He said he was in Germany, and that they did not let Blacks serve over there," Walker wrote on his social media page. "He left to the back, and came back and rubbed my dog Barack, who is a service dog. I was seated and eating my food. The waitress packed the rest of my food in a to go box because I had to go pick up my wife."

After tipping the server as he readied to leave, the manager of the eatery approached his table to tell him he doubted Walker's claims of being a veteran, based on the other diner having noted that he had kept his hat on indoors.

"He asked for my military ID, I was calm, and provided it to him," Walker wrote. "I also provided him with my DD214 which is my discharge paperwork. At that point he should have just said 'I am sorry sir, thank you for your service' Instead he followed up with 'the guest also said your dog is not a service dog,'" Walker wrote, noting his service animal was outfitted with a red service vest connoting his status, along with certified service tags.

Walker recorded the entire encounter on video, later posting it on Facebook. The manager of the eatery is seen taking away Walker's leftovers, already contained in a to-go box.

On Sunday, officials at the chain apologized. They noted the manager in question has been suspended pending further review.

"We are aware of the situation that occurred at our Chili's Cedar Hill restaurant on November 11th," restaurant officials told NBCDFW in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to make every guest feel special and unfortunately we fell short on a day where we serve more than 180,000 free meals as a small token to honor our veterans and active military for their service, hence these actions do not reflect the beliefs of our brand."

By Monday, they had located Walker in order to offer a personal apology, officials said: "Today, we personally apologized to Mr. Walker for the unfortunate experience in our restaurant on Veterans Day and thanked him for his service to our country. We also thanked him for taking the time to speak with us and he appreciated our apology."

Officials of the restaurant chain added they had "removed" the manager from the restaurant in question, although they weren't specific about the level of discipline taken.

"Our goal is to make every guest that walks into our restaurants feel special and we fully own that one of our restaurants fell short on an important day where we strive to honor our veterans and active military for their service," the Chili's officials said. "We took swift action and immediately removed our manager from the restaurant. We are now in the process of working with Mr. Walker on a resolution that promotes trust and healing."

By late Monday afternoon, the mayor of Cedar Hill, Rob Franke, also weighed in. He said the actions taken by the restaurant manager do not reflect the values of the community.

"This is not what we are about," Franke said in a prepared statement. "I find it sad and much too prevalent in our society today that we apply the actions of individuals to entire cities and entire groups, and in so doing make the exception the rule."

Franke's entire statement follows:

"This is not what we are about. I find it sad and much too prevalent in our society today that we apply the actions of individuals to entire cities and entire groups, and in so doing make the exception the rule. This situation is indeed the exception in Cedar Hill. It is interesting to me that just yesterday afternoon, on the patio at City Hall, we had a ceremony honoring and praying for veterans and their service dogs. We hosted veterans and their service dogs from several cities around Cedar Hill as we honored their service, dedication, training, and hearts of giving. These positives expression of community and unity don’t get the recognition they deserve. I also find it sad that we, as a people, too easily resort to demonstrations to express our frustration and the wrongs of this world rather than taking the harder and more sustainable route of working things out. My concern for the veteran is paramount, but we must also consider the manager and how he can become a better person and perhaps do better the next time he is put in a difficult situation. People do best and learn the most from experience. To learn requires patience and grace, neither of which can occur in the heat of emotion, demonstration, and anger. Please know, this situation is not reflective of our community, nor the way we prefer to handle wrongs. Peace and blessings, Rob Franke."