Nursing mother alleges restaurant owner confronted her despite legal protections

A Florida mother says a man she believes is the owner of a popular riverside restaurant in Georgia yelled at her and ordered her to leave after she breastfed her infant — an encounter she says she recorded on her cellphone that shows a man yelling, “Get out of here!”

The incident occurred at the Toccoa Riverside restaurant in Blue Ridge, according to Aris Kubik, and has since spread widely online, reigniting scrutiny of the company’s treatment of young families.

Kubiak told FOX Business she was eating with her husband, three young daughters — ages 4, 2 and 4 months — and family friends when her baby started crying.

She said she grabbed her infant, immediately covered him, making sure he was completely hidden from anyone’s view except her table.

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“The only people who could see me were at my table,” she said. “I covered myself immediately.”

Kubik said she pulled her shirt down and was preparing to take her older children outside when she bumped into either a chair or another guest in the crowded enclosed porch area. She says that this happened when the restaurant owner approached her.

“He looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do that here,'” Kubiak recalled. “I wasn’t even breastfeeding at that point. I was holding my baby with one arm and helping my kids with the other arm. He wouldn’t let me express any words. He kept saying, ‘I have to protect my restaurant.’ You have to go to the corner.”

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A mother says she recorded a Georgia restaurant owner screaming at her after she breastfed her baby. (@ariscopes via Instagram/Fox News)

Kubiak said she and her friend took the older children outside to wait while their spouses paid inside. Cupich said staff apologized to the men in the group, but not to her.

She added that when she returned to collect her belongings, the confrontation escalated. She said she calmly informed the man she claims is the owner that Georgia law explicitly protects breastfeeding in public.

“I just told him that if he wanted to protect his restaurant, he had to follow the law,” she said. “That’s when he lost his mind.”

Cupich said the man refused to give his name. After her friend mentioned she had his photo, Kubik started recording.

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Kubiak told FOX Business that employees at the restaurant apologized to her husband and her friend’s husband, but not to her. (Courtesy of Sheila Shutts/Fox News)

In the video she shared with FOX Business, a man behind the counter shouts, “Get out of here!” While Kubik holds her baby in her arms.

“It was very aggressive,” she said. “I knew I had to get my kids out of there.”

Kubik left the restaurant shaken.

“Honestly, I felt like I was wrong,” she said. “My instinct was to apologise. But then I reminded myself that women have a legal right to breastfeed. I had done nothing wrong.”

Public records and local business listings confirm 67-year-old Tim Richter is the owner of the Toccoa Riverside restaurant. In September, the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce via Facebook also identified Richter as the longtime owner and praised the restaurant’s hospitality, a description that many online commenters sharply contrasted with the tone of the new viral video.

In a phone call with FOX Business, the man who identified himself as the restaurant owner refused to confirm whether he was the person in the video. He defended the business, saying, “I’ve owned the restaurant for thirty-three years. We breastfed for thirty-three years,” and claimed the incident was “staged for clicks.”

Toccoa Riverside Restaurant provided no further comment.

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Aris Kubik said she has never felt so “belittled” as when the man she believes is the owner of a Toccoa Riverside restaurant yelled at her for feeding her child. (Courtesy of Sheila Shutts/Fox News)

Georgia law states that a mother may breastfeed “any place where mother and child are permitted to be present,” protecting breastfeeding mothers from being turned away or restricted from feeding their children.

Etiquette expert and author Allison Cheperdak told FOX Business that the graphic confrontation raises serious concerns. Shepherdduck’s Everyday Situations Etiquette, “Was That Something You Said?” It is scheduled to be published early next spring.

“Breastfeeding is natural and legally protected,” Cheperdak said. “Hospitality means care, not confrontation, and raising your voice in the face of a guest is absolutely unacceptable.”

She added that the mother does not owe an apology for feeding her child.

She added: “A calm explanation is appropriate, but the responsibility falls on the restaurant to treat her with respect.” “Even if a restaurant wants a quieter atmosphere, policies should never undermine basic respect for families.”

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Local Atlanta outlets, as well as Food and Wine, reported in 2023 that Toccoa Riverside raised eyebrows for posting “adult surcharges” for parents deemed “unable to parent,” sparking backlash from families who said they were reprimanded for their children’s behavior.

A FOX 5 Atlanta report on the surcharge controversy said parents claimed the landlord scolded their children and allegedly let the 3-year-old scream.

Kubiak said she hopes this attention will lead to positive change. “Every breastfeeding mother deserves to feel safe when breastfeeding her baby,” she said. “We have a legal right to breastfeed, period.”

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As for the restaurant, she said she chose not to hold on to anger. “I choose to forgive,” she said. “But I would really like to see them welcoming breastfeeding mothers.”

The video continues to spread widely online, with commentators discussing breastfeeding protection and the treatment of young mothers and infants in public.