Ordering from a restaurant should come with a certain level of peace of mind. At a bare minimum, the food should be edible, produced hygienically, and free of any accidental macabre ingredients.
Sadly for a woman from New York, her faith in restaurants may never be restored as one fell short of that third essential factor.
Mary Elizabeth Smith, 43, has filed a complaint against New York restaurant Create Astoria over an incident dated to 17 November 2023 in which she alleges she was served a meal featuring human material.
It wasn’t a hair or a fingernail, which would be gross enough; she claims it was a fingertip.
The complaint was filed on 7 August 2025 against the Mediterranean restaurant based in Queens, with representatives of Create Astoria calling the allegation ‘impossible’ and ‘ludicrous’.
Smith’s attorney, Robert Menna, said in the complaint that Smith allegedly found ‘human tissue, a fingertip’ inside a chicken wrap after she took a bite out of it.
The complaint also says that the restaurant’s alleged ‘negligence’ saw Smith ‘sustain serious injuries and suffer pain, shock and mental anguish’ over the incident.
“She ordered a chicken wrap, and when she bit into it, there was a piece of a finger there. Luckily, she didn't swallow it. But it still traumatized her,” Menna told People.
He claimed that his office had sent the alleged fingertip to be tested at a lab, with results confirming it was human female tissue.
Menna also said that the restaurant claims not to have had any female members of staff working on the day the incident allegedly took place. He added that Liberty Mutual, Create Astoria’s insurance company, has also denied Smith’s claim.
Teddy Karagiannis, the restaurant owner, told People the claim was ‘completely fraudulent’ and said he plans to sue Smith ‘for slander’.
“It's just ludicrous,” he said whilst noting the inspection processes in place in the kitchen. “It’s impossible. It cannot happen in my style of operation.”
He also told People that Smith had declined to have the fingertip DNA tested and said that such a test would prove it hadn’t belonged to any of his employees. Karagiannis said he suspects that Smith got the fingertip from somewhere else.
Smith has claimed that the experience left her ‘permanently traumatised’ and claimed to have undergone antiretroviral therapy as a precaution against any diseases she may have contracted from the alleged incident.
FOODBible has approached Create Astoria for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Jordan Lye/Getty ImagesTopics: US Food, Restaurants and bars, News
Rachael Davis