A Dallas woman said a restaurant discriminated against her and her friends after telling them they weren’t allowed to take pictures. Now the restaurant is trying to clap back online.
Blessida Yeboah posted the video last week of her and her friends at Casa Brasa in Dallas.
“He tells us we can’t take pictures here,” Yeboah said before turning the camera to a group of girls sitting in a booth. “But they can. They literally sent us out to take pictures.”
Yeboah told Atlanta Black Star that she believes the girls who were allowed to take pictures weren’t Black.
In the video, you see a man in a suit with his back to the camera.
Yeboah told Atlanta Black Star that the same man told them they weren’t allowed to take pictures.
She said she and her friends were out celebrating her friend’s graduation when the incident happened.
“We got there 10 minutes early. While we were waiting for our table, of course, it’s time to take pictures,” she said. “I don’t know if he was a manager or if he was one of the hosts…came up to us and said no pictures allowed.”
Yeboah said that at that point, she cared more about eating than about having her picture taken, so she and her friends went to their table. She figured she and her friends were allowed to take pictures in other parts of the restaurant.
“They just said no pictures allowed out there because it’s a waiting area, so we thought that was weird.”
After they ate and paid, Yeboah said she and her friends made their way to the door to leave when they noticed a group of girls taking pictures with flash photography in the waiting room.
“I walked to the guy, and I was like, ‘But they can take pictures,’” she said. “His entire face dropped. So that’s when I pulled out my phone and began recording.”
In the days that followed, the restaurant’s owner, Big Dill Hospitality, seemingly crashed out over a direct message with Yeboah. She showed Atlanta Black Star screenshots of the correspondence.
Yeboah said that before they reached out, they responded to one of her friends, asking to take the video down. That’s when they reached out to Yeboah, in a seeming effort to save face.
“We have simply tried to explain our perspective and correct statements that we believe do not accurately reflect what occurred from our side,” @bigdill.hospitality wrote Yeboah on Instagram. “That does not invalidate how you personally felt about the interaction. At this point, it’s clear we are not going to fully agree on the situation, and continuing to go back and forth is likely not productive for either side.”
Yeboah reacted with a laughing-with-tears emoji to the message.
“You are still not acknowledging the fact that you’ve told several people that that night you told us several times to stop flash photography, which resulted in us not being able to take pictures. I see where this is going…no problem,” she wrote back.
In another message, Yeboah called the page out for blocking her and then unblocking her.
“Also, I’ve noticed you JUST unblocked me. I have a screenshot and screen recording of the time I tried to access the account and so does my friend,” she said.
“We blocked you because of the harassment and threats our staff and business were receiving following your posts and your friends’ posts,” @bigdill.hospitality wrote back. “We have tried to handle this situation respectfully and privately while also protecting our team and guests.”
Yeboah said the restaurant claims four employees quit “because of harassment.”
“You saw the video; there were only two,” she told the Atlanta Black Star.
Casa Brasa also issued a statement on its official Instagram account, claiming that Yeboah’s story is inaccurate.
“Casa Brasa is a proud minority-owned restaurant that welcomes guests of all backgrounds, cultures, identities, and abilities,” the statement said.
The restaurant accused Yeboah of taking “multiple posed photos and flash photography” and “disturbing surrounding tables.”
“The claims being made against Casa Brasa are false and do not reflect the values or actions of our establishment.”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the restaurant and its owner to see if they wanted to provide more context on the back-and-forth with Yeboah. They have yet to respond.
“If they have a rule, enforce it on every single person and make sure that their employees are on the same wavelength with everything,” Yeboah said. “Having a racist employee like that is why the whole restaurant right now at this moment is going through this entire thing.”
