A server seated a man with a service dog, then says he watched him feed it jalapeños and leave a 2.5-star review because ‘the dog didn’t like it’

A New York server named Dean Redmond says a customer who claimed to have a service dog spent the meal hand-feeding the animal jalapeños. In a video on Instagram, Redmond recounted the interaction, which he said left him wondering whether he was in “the spirit realm.” The clip has since drawn hundreds of thousands of views.

According to Redmond, the customer arrived with his family and a dog and insisted it was a service animal when Redmond tried to seat them outside. Redmond said he could not see any identification on the dog, and the family reluctantly sat outside. He claimed the customer then kept putting the dog first, asking for the dog menu before ordering for his family and requesting a switch to Amy Winehouse because the dog preferred it.

Once the food arrived, Redmond said the customer ordered multiple sides of jalapeños for his sandwich. When Redmond returned to the table, he said the customer was “literally hand-feeding the dog jalapeños.” Redmond said he told the customer he didn’t know dogs could eat them, and the customer replied that “you can basically feed dogs anything.” He also claimed the children’s plates later ended up on the ground being licked by the dog.

The dog’s preferences followed the family all the way to the bill

At the end of the meal, Redmond said the customer was told the only dog dessert available was a pup cup, to which he replied, “I don’t think dogs can eat that.” Redmond said the customer was upset about the extra jalapeño charges when he saw the bill and claimed the restaurant had caused the dog a lot of trouble. According to Redmond, the customer later left a 2.5-star review saying the food was good, but “the dog didn’t like it.”

Many of Redmond’s viewers questioned whether the dog was a genuine service animal. One user argued that no one with a trained service dog would feed it jalapeños, pointing out that service dogs are expensive, difficult to train, and too important to their handler’s well-being to risk an upset stomach.

Other commenters noted that servers cannot legally demand identification for a service animal. According to the ADA National Network, businesses may only ask whether the dog is a service animal required because of a disability and what work or task it has been trained to perform. The ADA also does not protect emotional support animals the same way.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the customer’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Redmond’s Instagram video.