The Staten Island Advance reports that the Phunky Elephant gastropub has now removed the offending item from its menu until it can be renamed. The dessert — composed of coffee ice cream, doughnuts, Kahlua, caramel, vanilla vodka, chocolate syrup and whipped cream — was meant to be a reference to a joke from Family Guy.
Regardless of its intentions, many who went to the restaurant said it’s not funny to associate an item served in a bar with the drug Rohypnol (known as flunitrazepam in its generic form), and therefore date rape. The restaurant had apparently received numerous complaints about the Roofie Colada since it appeared on the menu in June.
DNAinfo says patrons who brought it up got less-than-serious responses from staff. They spoke to Jeremiah Jurkiewicz, an actor and an LGBTQ centre coordinator, who said a woman who complained about the name was laughed at by a waiter.
“Obviously they’re not wanting to change it,” Jurkiewicz said, “It speaks to a rape culture in society and how it’s sustained by this type of language and this ignorance of the situation.”
On Tuesday, the Phunky Elephant apologized via its Facebook page, saying it’s sorry if it offended anyone and that the choice to name the dessert was not made out of malice.
Apparently this isn’t the first time a restaurant has gotten in trouble for referencing Family Guy. Consumerist reports that in February of this year, a Montreal restaurant’s chalkboard sign read “Pick up line d’aujourd’hui: Est-ce que ce mouchoir sent le chloroforme?” In English: “Pick-up line of the day: Does this tissue smell like chloroform?” The restaurant defended the sign, saying it was harmless.
