Daughter of Mexican Official Has Restaurant Closed When Denied Table

A Mexican official's daughter has caused a scandal by sending inspectors to shut down a restaurant that didn't give her the table she wanted. Andrea Benítez, whose father is Mexico's federal attorney general of consumer protection, was denied her table of choice at the popular Maximo Bistrot on Friday and a few hours later health inspectors arrived and temporarily suspended service, Associated Press reports. Before complaining to the officials, Benítez tweeted "Dreadful service. They have no manners." Benítez has since locked her Twitter account.

Benítez' father issued an apology which basically suggests that Benítez was able to have the restaurant shuttered just by asking: "She exaggerated the situation and the officials of the Attorney General's Office for Consumer Protection, which I head, overreacted because it was my daughter ... Immediately upon hearing of the situation, I ordered the raid (on the restaurant) suspended, to avoid any excesses." President Enrique Pena Nieto has ordered a government investigation of the incident.

The drama doesn't end there, however. According to The New York Times, customers at the restaurants immediately spread word of the incident using smartphones. The news continued to spread via social media, and over 42,000 tweets about Benítez have been hashtagged #LadyProfeco (Profeco refers to the acronym for her father's agency). Owner of Eat Mexico Culinary Tours and food blogger Lesley Téllez summarized the frustration this incident has provoked over Twitter: "I always wondered why certain restaurants in #MexicoCity were "clausurado" and others weren't. #LadyProfeco makes it abundantly clear."

· Bad Reviews for Patron at Restaurant in Mexico [NYT]
· Mexican official's daughter tries to shut down restaurant after row [AP]
· All Scandals Coverage on Eater [-E-]