What began as an ordinary visit to a local restaurant soon took an unexpected turn when the customer overheard something she was never meant to understand. The situation escalated after she confronted the staff and later shared her experience publicly.
Within hours, the story spread across social media platforms, drawing thousands of reactions and prompting calls for accountability.
Highlights
- A black customer, Kat Branchman, went viral after overhearing waitresses at a Long Beach restaurant using a racial slur in Spanish.
- After being confronted, the employee allegedly denied the remark and claimed she was speaking about someone else.
- Following the viral clip, the restaurant’s Yelp and Google pages were flooded with hundreds of negative reviews.
Soon after, the restaurant’s online review pages began filling with critical comments as people weighed in on the incident and debated the broader issue of racism in public spaces.
A black woman slammed a waitress using a racial slur in Spanish at a local restaurant in California
Image credits: katbranchman
The controversy began after Kat Branchman shared a video recounting what happened during her visit to Sirenita’s Restaurant in Long Beach, California, which serves Honduran, Salvadorian, and Mexican cuisine.
Branchman shared that she walked into the restaurant to order takeout and began looking through the menu while standing near the counter. While she was reading, she overheard two waitresses talking to each other.
According to Branchman, one of the employees referred to her using a racial slur in Spanish, calling her a “big n—r,” apparently assuming she would not understand the conversation.
Image credits: katbranchman
Image credits: katbranchman
“I was looking at a menu, and they laughed in my face because they thought I did not know what they were saying,” Branchman said in her TikTok video.
Branchman later explained that her father is Panamanian and taught her Spanish while she was growing up. He also specifically taught her the slur so she would recognize it if someone used it against her.
“I was sitting there looking at the menu, and they thought I couldn’t understand what they were saying,” she wrote in a caption on Instagram. “D*ad wrong.”
Before the situation escalated, the woman politely asked the waitress to apologize for her remark
Image credits: katbranchman
Image credits: katbranchman
Branchman further noted she initially left the restaurant quietly to collect herself before returning to ask the waitress for an apology.
Instead, she claimed the employee denied remarking.
“She proceeded to act like she did not know what I was talking about,” Branchman said.
Branchman then went to a neighboring business to confirm the translation with another Spanish-speaking employee before confronting the waitress again.
Image credits: katbranchman
Image credits: yelp
“I even quietly give her a chance to apologize, and she starts saying she was talking about someone else,” Branchman wrote. “Cause where’s the other Big N**** in the restaurant?”
Branchman said she decided to post the story online because people today should not have to tolerate racist language.
“…my ancestors had to be called all kinds of words and names, and they had to eat that,” she said. “This is not back in the day.”
As soon as her clip went online, the restaurant was flooded with negative reviews as people reacted online
Image credits: katbranchman
Image credits: yelp
After Branchman’s video went viral, social media users quickly began leaving reviews on the restaurant’s Yelp and Google pages.
Many criticized the establishment and urged others not to support it.
“Serious discrimination here. Don't eat food from people who call you racial slurs. Just terrible,” one Yelp user wrote.
Another reviewer added, “Racist establishments do not patronize them if you're a person of color.”
Several commenters said they would no longer feel comfortable dining there.
“The staff is incredibly unprofessional & as a Black woman, I do not feel safe coming to this restaurant knowing that the people serving my food are using slurs when they think others can't understand them,” one review read.
Image credits: katbranchman
Another person wrote, “This establishment has racist workers, and the ambiance is not welcoming to all.”
Meanwhile, some responses were more emotional.
“Very unkind, sorry that you had to go thru that,” one social media user commented.
“I’m so tired of this. This goes on all the time,” another wrote.
Others pointed out how common it has become for people to underestimate who understands another language.
“Don’t they know by now anyone can speak and understand Spanish?” one commenter said.
Branchman’s experience was not an isolated case, as similar incidents continue to spark debate about racism
Image credits: yelp
In 2025, a Family Dollar employee in Houston was fired after an Afro-Latino customer recorded her making racist remarks about Black shoppers in Spanish. The company later apologized for the incident.
Another instance was reported in December 2025 by Bored Panda, when a Wisconsin Cinnabon employee was fired after being filmed repeatedly using the N-word during a confrontation with a Somali Muslim couple.
Image credits: yelp
In February 2026, South Carolina involved an elementary school teacher who was arrested after allegedly calling a woman a racial slur during a dispute at a Sam’s Club store.
Even celebrities have not been immune. During the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, a racial slur was shouted from the audience while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting on stage.
While the remark was later linked to a guest with Tourette’s syndrome, the moment still sparked widespread discussion about racism and accountability.
"Wow that's foul," wrote one netizen
