Dallas Diners Insist Nobody Smoked Marijuana. Then Restaurant Tells Them They Cannot Be Served: ‘Feeling Racially Profiled’
Who's in the right, the restaurant or the diners?
When a customer is told they won’t be served, drama often ensues. But when the reason is something they insist is not true, the situation can become about much more than restaurant service.
That is what TikTok creator Andrea Chantel (@andreachantel) says happened during a visit to Maroma in Dallas. She says her group expected a normal night out but instead found themselves questioning why restaurant staff had singled them out.
Chantel recorded the interaction and later posted it on TikTok, where the video has drawn about 17 million views. She says the group walked away “feeling racially profiled and completely humiliated.”
That’s when the questions started
In the video, a restaurant employee tells the group that she can smell marijuana and says she cannot serve them. The diners immediately deny that anyone in their group smokes. “We don’t smoke,” one person says.
The group repeatedly questions how the employee determined that the smell came from them. “You’re going off of what?” one diner asks before requesting the employee’s name and accusing her of discrimination.
The employee continues to stand by the decision, telling the group, “I’m coming to you” and explaining that she cannot serve them because she can smell marijuana. “So now you can’t serve us cause we smell like smoke?” one diner asks.
The dispute appears to center on alcohol service. In a statement later shared on Instagram, Maroma said its team decided to discontinue alcohol service to the guests after staff observed what the restaurant described as a strong marijuana odor.
Maroma said staff also had concerns about marijuana use in the restaurant restroom. According to its statement, management spoke with the restroom attendant and determined the odor was not associated with restaurant employees.
Management then determined that continuing to serve alcohol was inappropriate, the restaurant said, adding that it has a responsibility to make responsible decisions regarding alcohol service and maintain a safe environment. Maroma also denied that race played a role in the decision. The restaurant said the action was based “solely on the circumstances and behavior observed that evening” and had “nothing to do with race, background, or identity.”
Chantel tells a different story. In the caption accompanying her video, she says she “genuinely never thought” she would have to share an experience like this publicly. “We went to Maroma in Dallas expecting to have a normal night out, and instead walked away feeling racially profiled and completely humiliated,” she wrote.
She also encouraged viewers to watch the recording and make up their own minds about the exchange. Chantel argued that being a paying customer should not mean being treated differently because of someone’s appearance.
Similar complaints about restaurant treatment have surfaced before. In Dallas, a group of Black women questioned why they were told not to take pictures while another group appeared to be allowed to do so. In another case, a Black woman in Missouri said a restaurant employee told her to “speak English” during an uncomfortable dining experience.
Many commenters sided with the diners, particularly questioning how the alleged marijuana odor had been connected to their group. “How she know it wasn’t the people next to yall?” one viewer asked.
“Saying She can smell the marijuana to people who don’t smoke is crazy. Get her outta here!” another wrote. Others went further and accused the restaurant employee of racial profiling. “Straight up racism,” one person commented, while another wrote, “Tone policing you after racially profiling you is so ironic.”
Several viewers encouraged the group to consider legal action. “Don’t argue …. Sue,” one commenter wrote. The recording does not establish where the marijuana smell came from. Maroma cites the odor, while Chantel’s group says they were unfairly singled out.
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