KENWOOD — The owner of Fung’s Chop Suey said Monday that a man who claims to have found a baby rat in his food is just looking for money.
Connie Liu, speaking on behalf of her mother, Yu Ying Chen, who does not speak English and who has owned the restaurant at 1400 E. 47th St. for more than 25 years, said the claim is a common one for the restaurant taken to a new level.
“People will literally bring in eaten food and say they didn’t like it or there was something in the food,” Liu said. “I happens once a week or so.”
She said the baby rat claim takes the money-grubbing to a new level.
RELATED: Man Says He Found A Baby Rat In His Egg Fu Yung And Got Very Sick
Kevin Bradley of Kenwood is threatening to sue Fung’s unless the restaurant pays him because he claims he found a baby rat in his egg fu yung on June 5 and got severe food poisoning from the experience.
“I don’t know if he has other reasons, but I think he’s just mad, and he wants money,” Liu said.
She said the restaurant has video footage that contradicts Bradley’s claims.
Bradley said he brought the contaminated food back right away and complained about what he thought was a baby rat and staff snatched it away from him and gave him a partial refund.
Liu said the video shows Bradley came back an hour after getting his food trying to get a refund for the entire order, complaining that his girlfriend didn’t like the egg fu yung because it was burnt.
“We’re not going to pay him anything,” Liu said.
She said the egg fu yung must be made fresh to order and it is highly unlikely that the chef, other kitchen staff and the cashier all would have missed something like a baby rat.
A June 12 inspection by Chicago Department of Public Health officials after Bradley’s complaint found no evidence of vermin.
“I admit, our restaurant is a hole-in-the-wall in the rough part of Hyde Park, but my parents have worked so hard for 25 years of their lives, trying to improve this restaurant so that it can be successful, cooking 12 hours a day nonstop, trying to satisfy every single customer and dealing with customers that try to do things like this and more,” Liu said.
Bradley’s attorney, Nick Kreitman, did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday.
Photos provided by Kreitman do show something in an order of egg fu yung, but it is unclear what it is because it has been cooked.
Bradley’s medical records are also inconclusive, showing only that Bradley was prescribed the equivalent of Pepcid on June 8 at Provident Hospital, 500 E. 51st St.
