A New York restaurant has a pulled a dessert called ‘Roofie Colada’ from its menu after angry backlash over social media.
The Phunky Elephant in Staten Island is known for its decadent after dinner creations like its Cookie Crumble Martini and Milky Way cocktail. The ‘Roofie Colada’ was a dessert-drink hybrid made with coffee ice cream, Kahlua, vanilla vodka, caramel, chocolate syrup, topped with donuts and whipped cream. The name is allegedly derived from a joke on the cartoon “Family Guy,” reports Advance media via SILive.com.
The dessert has been on the menu since the summer, appearing after the episode when the joke originally aired. Patricia Gaja, who owns the gastropub, admitted that she had been receiving complains about the dish for months, but felt that recent backlash was getting out of hand.
“Even with all that whipped cream you can't make a rape joke palatable. Roofie Colada = Not Funny,” user Lauren Marie posted.
Ilyssa Silfen, a patron who dined at the restaurant called out the restaurant on their Facebook page and received what she called a flip response:
“For the record, you know that there aren't any 'date rape' drugs in this dessert, right?" the Facebook response from The Phunky Elephant stated. "Just to be clear because I think you're taking this a little too far."
But now the restaurant has changed its attitude amid a string of more complaints. On Tuesday, page administrators posted an apology and said the drink will be taken off the menu until a suitable name replacement is found.
"The Phunky Elephant is a place with a unique atmosphere. We treat our guests with the utmost respect and we are always open to feedback to make our restaurant a welcoming and comfortable place with a touch of humor and quirkiness,” the message reads “
“We certainly did not intend to create an impression of reckless or negligent behavior by presenting the desert at question to our guests nor did we mean to make anyone feel uncomfortable or insulted. This desert name was simply a homage to an adult cartoon and there was no malice. We obviously do not support date rape or any sort of violence for that matter."
"We humbly apologize if we have offended anyone and we appreciate the community around us and its awareness toward the cause. Please be advised that the dessert is currently off the menu until it is appropriately renamed."
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