Customers who order mozzarella sticks from restaurants expect an ooey-gooey appetizer that satisfies their hunger and their craving for salty goodness. However, customers of TGI Fridays have been getting something a bit different than advertised every time they order the mozzarella sticks off the American restaurant chain’s menu. Apparently, TGI Fridays do not use real mozzarella cheese in their mozzarella sticks despite naming the appetizer after the popular cheese.
Instead of using real mozzarella cheese for their mozzarella sticks, TGI Fridays and their food distributor use cheddar cheese, which is very popular among children and people who go to the restaurant. However, one woman has decided to file a lawsuit against the restaurant chain for falsely advertising their popular appetizer because it does not contain the ingredient essential to the dish – mozzarella cheese.
The woman who filed the lawsuit lives in Illinois and is demanding an undisclosed amount of money from the chain restaurant. However, this seems like the kind of lawsuit that might turn into a class-action suit because so many people have been wronged by the restaurant group every time they order the mozzarella sticks off the TGI Fridays menu.
The woman behind the lawsuit is Amy Joseph. She originally filed her controversial lawsuit against Inventure Foods Inc. and TGI Fridays Inc back in February 2021 and is awaiting litigation in the courtroom. However, if the lawsuit sticks, the restaurant might want to settle it out of court to save on legal fees and the overall headache of a court battle.
The lawsuit claims that “the respective state-law claims for consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices in all fifty states and the District of Columbia on behalf of herself and the nationwide class.”
In addition, People reported that the lawsuit states, “Despite its label, the Product does not contain mozzarella cheese; rather, it contains cheddar cheese.”
A federal judge has ruled that the lawsuit can proceed because it is “reasonable” that a person ordering mozzarella sticks off the TGI Fridays menu would want the named cheese inside the deep-fried sticks. This judge ruled that the lawsuit could continue against Inventure but not TGI Fridays. The chain restaurant sells the tasty appetizer but does not make the dish – Inventure Foods Inc. makes it.
Regardless of whether or not you think this woman has a legitimate lawsuit on her hands, it looks like TGI Fridays is in big trouble because of what they put (or didn’t put) in their mozzarella sticks. It remains to be seen if the restaurant chain will settle out of court or go through a long and costly legal battle that could damage its reputation even further. We will have to wait and see how this lawsuit develops.
In the meantime, customers should be wary when ordering mozzarella sticks from TGI Fridays just to make sure it is not cheddar cheese in disguise.