The city Department of Health is investigating Nathan’s Famous restaurant in Coney Island after a family from Arizona claimed in a viral video that they found a razor blade inside a hot dog they bought at the flagship location on Sunday.
In a TikTok video posted by the mother, the family pulls what appears to be a straight razor lodged in a hot dog covered in mustard and onions.
“I’m still in shock. We found a blade inside the hot dog, and they claimed it didn’t come from them,” she wrote, saying no one was injured during the incident at the Brooklyn landmark.
Abbey, who was visiting New York City on vacation, told amNewYork she reported the incident to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene after employees at the Surf Avenue location denied responsibility for the close call that left the family shaken.
“On Sunday, October 5th, around 7 p.m., at the location on 1310 Surf Ave, my husband bit into what he initially thought was a hard onion, but it turned out to be a blade inside his food,” Abbey said. “Once he spit it out, we saw the blade and notified the employees.”
Nathan’s Famous staff reportedly told the family the metal object did not come from their kitchen. Representatives for the company did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Wednesday.
“An employee then called over the manager. The manager stated that the hot dogs are not made there and claimed there was no way they came from their location,” Abbey told this paper. “He suggested it could have come from the onions or the mustard dispenser.”
“He didn’t even say sorry,” she continued online, adding that the family poured the mustard themselves.
Recounting the incident to her followers, Abbey wrote that she was “bawling [her] eyes out” after the discovery and described the object as looking “like a barber straight razor.”
A spokesperson for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed that it had received a complaint and is investigating the claim.
The Surf Avenue location is the original Nathan’s Famous, a longtime Coney Island landmark known for its annual hot dog eating contest every Fourth of July.
