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A family has been banned from going to a restaurant in Seguin because their children are "messy."
Selena Palomares and her family, who have been visiting Taco Tejano for over 15 years, were turned away by staff on May 3, MySanAntonio reports. Palomares' mom was inside the restaurant grabbing a table and requesting high chairs while Palomares was getting her 2- and 3-year-old sons out of the car. That's when Palomares' mom said she was told they weren't welcome inside the restaurant anymore.
"I have my two children in my hands and that's when she pulls me to the side and she's like, 'They said that we couldn't go inside and eat there because the kids make a mess and we don't clean up after them,"' Palomares said, per the news outlet.
Palomares aired out the situation on social media instead of going inside and speaking to restaurant staff. "Every time we go out to eat I clean up after my kids, my kids aren't throwing chairs around, they're not running around the restaurant or tossing food across the restaurant—that's not what is happening," she said.
She said she didn't think their banishment was personal, but a social media post by the restaurant might have changed her mind. "🗣️Get your Taco Tejano T-Shirt 🗣️ ( Where kids are not welcomed🤣 JkJk) $20🤑Thanks," the restaurant said in a Facebook post. Taco Tejano Owner Alicia Sepeda confirmed this post was directed at Palomares' comments online.
"It was because of all the comments that were made about the kids because we never said that period, it was said by her, but it wasn't said by us," she said. "You have to find a little bit of humor in it when people bash you."
Palomares said that while her children to drop food on the floor sometimes, she's never left a mess so bad that would cause her to be banned. "I just think that the situation was not handled correctly," she said.
Sepeda opened up about why the Palomares family was no longer welcome in her restaurant. "Based on the last time they were in here, I personally made the decision to refuse service to them. Basically, that was all that was said when the mom came in by herself," she said. "Just because of certain issues we're going to refuse the right to service, period.
"I really want to remain respectful to everyone involved. I made a professional business decision based on my customer complaints, and how employees were being treated and that was it."
The restaurant shared another post on Facebook "clearing up" its policies and seemingly addressing the situation with the Palomares family. You can see that post below:
The day after the incident (May 4), Palomares' mother and sister went back to Taco Tejano to apologize for the now-viral situation. Sepeda said that while she appreciated their apology, there are no hard feelings. The family is allowed to order food through the drive-thru, but Taco Tejano said "No" to allowing them back inside.
"If she's upset about that she could have called me, woman to a woman, and talked to me. I would have been more than happy to talk to her and explain to her why. But at this point, it doesn't really matter why the decision was made and I'm going to stick by it, especially now," Sepeda said.