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A Case Of Mistaken Identity: Restaurant In Lexington, VA Sparks Local Complaints

Posted at 5:02 AM, Jul 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-03 05:02:29-04

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18)– Lexington is being confused with a city by the same name in Virginia that’s home to a restaurant in the middle of political controversy.

The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is getting complaints about The Red Hen in ‘Lexington, Virginia.’ 

The Red Hen is the restaurant that kicked out White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders more than a week ago, a move both jeered and applauded.

Now the restaurant is getting plenty of complaints, such as "this is very unhealthy & unsanitary for guests, especially in an eating establishment"… and "find reasons to shut the expletive down."

Those tweets were sent to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, not the health department in Lexington, Virginia.

"We’ve had a few tweets from people who may have saw Lexington, and assumed it might be Lexington, Kentucky," said Kevin Hall. "We wanted to reach out to them and we didn’t want them to feel like their voice was not heard."

And the confusion goes way beyond Fayette County. Other "red hen" restaurants have been the targets of anger, such as the ones in Swedesboro, New Jersey and the "Olde Red Hen" in Ontario, Canada.

"Places that are not affiliated who have been bombarded, through Yelp reviews, through social media like Twitter and Facebook," Hall said.

Regardless of this case of mistaken identity, the health department says there’s at least something to take away from it.

"We’re glad people are reaching out to their health department for restaurant inspections," Hall said. "A lot of people know that health departments do that."