A toddler’s visit to a restaurant in California with her family devolved into a nightlong stay at a hospital’s emergency room after a server mistakenly served the girl alcohol, a local outlet reported Thursday.
The large family dinner at the Fujiyama Sushi & Hibachi Restaurant in Salinas soured when their two-year-old daughter became inebriated, according to KSBW. The girl’s parents reportedly said that they ordered apple juice for their daughter but later realized the girl had been served house-made cooking wine in a normal, lidded juice cup.
“She was swaying, she was falling over, she was leaning on walls, she couldn’t hold her head up, she was slurring her words,” Noemi Valencia, the child’s mother, told the outlet. The parents said they realized the drink was alcoholic by smelling and tasting it.
The child later went to the Salinas Valley ER, where she was found to have an alcohol level of 0.12%, according to the report.
The restaurant’s manager told the outlet that the situation was a mistake as the wine was stored inside a large container labeled “apple juice” before the service. (RELATED: GoFundMe For Bus Driver Who Drank White Claw By ‘Mistake’ While Transporting Kids Raises Thousands)
Both the Salinas Police Department and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are investigating the incident.
“Parents: taste what’s served to your kids,” the girl’s parents warned, also hoping that the restaurant had learned from the mistake. “Take proper precautions and how you store things or label things properly so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”
The Daily Caller reached out to Fujiyama Sushi & Hibachi Restaurant but received no response. The restaurant is listed “Closed now” on its Facebook page. Staff members for the police department directed the Daily Caller to the Watch Commander, Police Service of Salinas; their response is pending.