Teriyaki Restaurant Owner Allows Police Into Business After Community Backlash

Sedro Woolley, Washington- The Owners of the  Lucky Teriyaki Restaurant  in the 200 block of Ball Street in Sedro Woolley has changed their stance on banning all Law Enforcement from their Business after receiving Community  and nationwide backlash due to their decision to ban all Police Officers from eating at their restaurant.

The incident started on the afternoon of July 14th, 2016 when four uniformed Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputies were finishing their lunch at the Lucky Teriyaki Restaurant. As Two of the deputies went to pay for their food, they were told by the owners family that the Officers were not welcome to eat there any longer.   The owners family told the Deputies  that other customers didn’t like Law Enforcement there.

A Chief Deputy later spoke to the owners family to clarify what they meant because they couldn’t believe what  they were hearing and  again the owners not only repeated the request that Officers no longer eat there, but the owner also asked the Chief Deputy to spread the word to other Law Enforcement agencies that they were no longer welcome to eat there either.

Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt then posted the information on the Official Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Social Media pages and the information quickly spread County Wide, then Nationally.  The Lucky Teriyaki Business was bombarded with angry customers who vowed to never eat at their restaurant again. Negative Feedback was posted on Social Media and Google and Yelp review sites.

As the word continued to  spread, several local Law Enforcement members and their spouses, called Lucky Teriyaki to confirm the information, as many could not believe a business owner in Skagit County would take such a stance, and they too were told if they are associated with Law Enforcement, they are no longer welcome to dine at Lucky Teriyaki.

The Business is located within the City Limits of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, and the Sedro-Woolley Police Department posted on their social media pages, that they too had “been made aware of the fact that Lucky Teriyaki does not want members of Law Enforcement eating in or at their restaurant.”  The Sedro-Woolley Police Department followed up with, “We support local businesses but are disappointed by the news.  We want everyone to know SWPD will continue to respond and assist them in anyway they request.” 

SkagitBreaking.com shared the information to our 55,000 followers on our social media pages  and as the news traveled online, our local  Seattle News Stations caught wind of the story and  several of them  headed to Lucky Teriyaki to get more information and the owners side of the story.

The Owners of Lucky Teriyaki, Michael Li and his Son, Xuechuang Li, who was the one that actually  spoke to each of the Deputies told the Seattle News Stations that the entire situation was a misunderstanding due to “broken English.”  However, many local residents who have eaten at the restaurant say there is no way this was a case of “broken English,” as they have had perfectly fine interactions with the son, all in English. Many locals who have commented on the Sheriff’s Social Media posts and local news media sites believe the owners are only claiming a case of misunderstanding because of the back lash and negative  media coverage they have received.

Michael Li told Natasha Chen of Kiro 7 News that an incident did happen but they had a different version of the incident.  Mr. Li said   “while the Skagit County Sheriff’s  Deputies were eating lunch in the restaurant Thursday, a group nearby spilled soup and their drinks and seemed agitated and argumentative.” Owner Michael Li continued,  “As the Deputies were standing up to pay. My son said the extra bit about are you leaving now?”  He was concerned the way he said it-“perhaps in the wrong tone in English-was not right.”

Michael Li also said when deputies called to verify the story his son didn’t understand what was being asked and answered “yeah” to everyone.

The story went Viral and became the #1 trending story on Facebook and was re-written, shared and re-tweeted around the world, hundreds of thousands of times.

The Unfortunate part of the story is that Lucky Teriyaki is not a franchise business and other Lucky Teriyaki Restaurants  with the same name within the State of Washington have become the victims of negative Yelp Reviews, negative online feedback and hate filled phone calls and messages as a result of the story.

Regardless of who you want to believe in the situation, Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt followed up with a social media post update on Friday July 15th, stating “This morning I met with the owner of Lucky Teriyaki and his son. They apologized for the incident that made news yesterday, and expressed their desire to accept everyone to their business, including Law Enforcement Officers associated with all offices and departments. I told both father and son that I was appreciative and grateful for their willingness to once again welcome everyone to visit their restaurant. And that it was my hope that this matter can quickly be put behind us all.  Thank you to all of the citizens who expressed support for law enforcement in Skagit County. Please accept that this matter has been resolved to our satisfaction, and we encourage everyone to patronize Lucky Teriyaki.”

Owners Micahel and Xuechuang Li have tried to “make the situation right” by allowing police Officers to Eat Free on Monday July 18th at their restaurant. It is unclear how many Officers will take them up on the Free Lunch Offer.