Nohemi Castillo is suing Torchy's Tacos for up to $250,000 after allegedly finding a cow tooth in a taco at the chain's South Congress Avenue location in Austin. The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 13 in Travis County District Court, stems from an incident on June 9 that the restaurant has since confirmed involved a real cow tooth.
Castillo claims she nearly swallowed the object while eating takeout "Democrat" tacos. Torchy's Tacos, operated by Success Foods Management Group, stated in a comment to Austin TV station KVUE that its investigation identified the item as a cow tooth. The company explained that such occurrences can happen when processing meat, though it described the event as quite rare. The chain noted that its barbacoa comes from natural beef cheek sourced from a supplier.
Castillo's attorney, Scott Vasquez, told Fox News Digital that the restaurant did not acknowledge the object was a cow tooth until local media attention arose in October, approximately four months after the incident. Vasquez provided photographs showing the tooth next to a tape measure and another image of the object on aluminum foil beside taco meat. A witness statement included in the filing describes Castillo's colleague hearing an exclamation and seeing her pull the object from her mouth. The colleague stated that Castillo examined the item while holding her left cheek and concluded it appeared to be a tooth.
The complaint alleges that Castillo was disgusted and sickened by the discovery and visited a doctor later that evening to receive prescriptions. It claims she incurred medical expenses and suffered physical pain and mental anguish. Castillo alleges that Torchy's failed to properly prepare, inspect, and distribute the food and did not adequately monitor its meat supplier. The suit also cites breaches of implied warranties regarding food fitness for consumption, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and federal food safety requirements.
Vasquez noted he has learned of other people describing similar experiences with the chain since the news broke, though these reports remain unverified. He criticized the company's initial replies for offering little detail while deflecting responsibility. In response to KVUE, Torchy's said it partnered with its supplier to reinforce internal procedures to prevent future incidents and maintained that it takes all food concerns seriously. Torchy's did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.