Photo: Andrea Chantel/Tiktok;Smash Da Topic/Facebook
A Black Texas woman is accusing a Dallas restaurant of racial profiling after she says staff accused her and her friends of smoking marijuana and stopped serving them during a group outing. Andrea Chantel, a registered nurse in Dallas, shared video of the August 8 encounter at Maroma, where she and three friends had gone for drinks. In the video, Chantel repeatedly denied that anyone in the group had smoked marijuana after being confronted by the restaurant’s manager.
“We don’t smoke. So you’re saying you can’t serve us because of why?” Chantel asked the manager.
“I can’t serve you because I smelled it when you came into this restaurant,” the manager, who later identified herself as Danielle, replied.
The manager later said, “I can only go off of the observation. I smell marijuana and I won’t be serving another alcoholic beverage.”
Chantel and her friends eventually left the restaurant.
In a separate video, Chantel said she took a drug test to counter the accusation and showed viewers what she said was a negative result.
“It’s really sad that I’m taking a drug test to prove just because I’m Black, doesn’t mean I smoke marijuana,” Chantel said. “And just because I’m reactive to racial profiling, does not mean that I’m guilty.”
Maroma later defended the decision on Instagram, saying staff observed a “strong odor of marijuana” and had concerns about possible marijuana use in a restaurant restroom. The restaurant said nearby customers had also asked to be moved because of the smell.
The restaurant said the decision to stop serving the group was based “solely on the circumstances and behavior observed that evening” and had nothing to do with race, background or identity.
Chantel shared Maroma’s statement on TikTok and said the restaurant’s account had changed three times. “Ours remains the same,” she wrote. “WE DID NOT SMOKE!”
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