The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications is in the process of verifying a report of a male TikToker writing on Facebook that he was refused at a pho restaurant and received harsh words at another in the city as he was in a wheelchair, a departmental representative told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

His post has made headlines over the past few days.

In particular, V.M.L. wrote on his Facebook account with nearly 150,000 followers that he and his girlfriend visited a pho restaurant in Hanoi.

As he was born paralytic, he has to use a wheelchair.

When they asked an employee of the restaurant to help carry L. and his wheelchair over a three-step staircase, the employee refused and said that “our restaurant has no staff to carry someone like you."

They later reached another pho eatery, also their familiar diner. Due to the narrow space, L. had to slightly squeeze into the owner’s area. 

The owner stood up and scolded her staff, “Who accepted this kind of people?”

After an employee answered that L. often sat there whenever he arrived at the eatery, she unpleasantly said that she could not work and had to stand, L. wrote.

L. shared that “the food stuck in my throat, it's hard to swallow,” adding that he is used to this type of situation but tears started to well in his girlfriend’s eyes.

His post has caused mixed opinions with more than 47,000 reactions and 20,000 comments and shares.

Many people were angry that the two pho restaurants’ owners discriminated against the disabled.

Meanwhile, others doubted the accuracy of the story and asked L. to name the two pho restaurants so that they could clarify the information.

L. also posted a video on TikTok with the caption “Goodbye Hanoi” with images of a chicken pho restaurant on Nam Ngu Street in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi included.

The 60-year-old owner of the pho restaurant confirmed to Tuoi Tre that L. was its regular customer and often came in the evening.

She said that on the morning of Friday last week, L. and his girlfriend visited the restaurant. As the eatery’s entrance is narrow, less than one meter wide, and it was raining at the time, she invited the two guests to sit at a coffee shop opposite her eatery and then asked her staff to bring pho to them.

“However, he still wanted to sit at our restaurant, so we welcomed them normally,” she said, noting that L. and his friend sat at a table behind the owner and next to the chicken weighing area.

An employee reminded L. not to sit there next time. 

“He smiled and ate [pho] normally, but then posted a status on social network implying that we despised him, which is not true.”

She affirmed that she had not refused the guests, and had never said, “Who accepted this kind of people?”

“We have operated for tens of years and all customers know our behavior. I affirm that we never use bad words to turn down guests, especially the disabled," the owner added.

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