Overcooked bacon bits at Polly’s Restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard were to blame for $1,825 worth of damage to a molar, a Colorado woman told a judge last week.
But the judge didn’t bite on that argument since bacon bits are a fact of life in Polly’s breakfast potatoes. “(They) fried the bacon bits so they were stone hard,” said Christine Peine. “I took one bite and that was it: Lightning through the roof.”
Peine, who stopped in Polly’s for a quick meal on the evening of Dec. 10, 2001, sued the restaurant and their insurance carrier for the full $1,825, saying she would have liked a crown or a root canal, but ultimately the tooth had to be extracted.
“I got assurance from Farmer’s (Insurance) that I would get satisfaction,” Peine told the court. Peine also argued bacon bits were not meant to be in Polly’s breakfast potatoes, though a representative from Polly’s disagreed, saying the side dish traditionally comes with spices and bacon bits.
Judge Pro Tem Douglas Schiffer sided with the restaurateur. “The bacon bits are germane to the product they’re serving,” he said. “If you did-n’t want the bacon bits, why didn’t you send them back?”
Peine countered that she didn’t notice the hardened bits until after her first painful bite. But Judge Schiffer ruled for Polly’s. Peine will not be reimbursed for her court costs.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 20, 2003. Read the original PDF.