Lawyer Might Sue Restaurant Because He Didn't Get Soup

This Texas restauranteur might get sued because
he ran out of soup that a lawyer customer wanted. 

Believe me, I'm all for consumer protection.

Sometimes, when a company or business is unfair to customers and the general public, they deserve to be sued or worse.

This story is not one of those cases.

There's a special that often runs at the Our Place Restaurant in Mansfield, Texas in which you get an entree, two sides and a soup.

The verbiage around that special on the menu states that the soup often runs out, and if you get the special, you might have to live without the soup. "While supplies last," the menu says.

The owner of the restaurant, Benji Arslanovksi, says people understand the soup is kind of a freebie, like the pickle you get next to your hamburger.

OK, not getting the soup at Our Place Restaurant is a bit of a bummer, but it's no reason to sue, right?

Oh yes it is!

Arslanovksi was recently slapped with the threat of a lawsuit for a whopping $2.25, but $250 in lawyer's fees, for not offering the soup to attorney Dwain Downing, who is the guy who might sue, says Dallas television station WFAA.   

A menu is an offer of a contract, and that the restaurant uses deceptive trade practices by running out of soup, apparently. Even though the menu warns that there might not be soup.

I fear poor Downing is bored, and maybe needs practice to keep his legal chops going, so he's launching this lawsuit just for practice? I have no idea.

His web site says Downing has been practicing law since 1981, so he must be pretty good. And probably busy. But the lawsuit threat over a cup of soup sounds like a teeny weeny bit of overkill, no?

I always thought if you don't like the service or the food or the lack thereof at a particular restaurant, you just stop going there if you don't like it.

I'm sure Our Place Restaurant is fine, but if people don't like it there, I'm pretty sure Texas has other restaurants to try.

"I really don't whant to think. I mean, it's a cup of soup," Arslanovksi told WFAA.

Exactly!

Downing declined an on-camera interview with WFAA, but said the restaurant should be prepared if it regularly runs out of soup.

Well, yes. But a lawsuit?

As is almost always the case with this type of thing, the lawsuit threat appears to be backfiring on our attorney, thanks to social media.

Arslanovksi posted Downing's lawsuit threat letter on Facebook,

Plus there's a bright side. Our Place has a new special in which if you bring a can of soup with you to the restaurant, you'll get 10 percent off your bill.

No, they won't heat up that can of soup for you. Instead, they'll donate it to the local food shelf. Which is mmm mmmm good thing!