Wichita Five Guys restaurants dealing with fallout from Alabama police incident

The Wichita Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchisee is dealing with fallout from an incident at one of the chain’s restaurants in Alabama.

Jeff Miller, who has three Five Guys restaurants in Wichita, has nothing to do with the Five Guys in Daphne, Ala., where some employees recently refused to serve police officers. Due to news reports and social media, though, people in the Wichita area have heard about the incident and responded.

“We’ve had people call the stores repeatedly and ask if we serve police officers,” Miller said. “Some have gone so far just to assume that it’s happened here.”

He said others are “really going over the top being rude to the (managers), accusing them of all kinds of reprehensible behavior.”

“It’s been really tough on them. They’ve done a good job and handled it well.”

Miller said he’s purposely worked to build a relationship with the police.

“We have a really good relationship with the local police force.”

This isn’t the only time social media has affected his business, Miller said.

“Apparently there was a rumor going around that we didn’t take cash. We absolutely take cash.”