Viral TikTok Video Exposes Deep-Fried Paper Being Served as Chicken Fingers

There are fewer things more disappointing than sitting down to chow down on a meal you've been waiting to feast on, only to take a bite and realize that there's something very off about your food.

Sometimes, it's a pretty innocuous issue. Maybe the protein in your meal is a little dry, or over/under seasoned. So you try and find ways to compensate for this.

If you're seated at the restaurant, maybe you can talk to your server and let them know that unfortunately not everything was up to snuff and you're a little disappointed with your meal. Or if you've already taken the food home and maybe aren't the type of person to complain about your food and send it back because you're shy, or just too hungry to care, you'll douse it in some sauce that you like or eat what you can and search for something else you'd rather enjoy.

But what if you're served something that is just inedible? I'm not talking about something that doesn't agree with your palate or is super bland/dry to the point where you feel like you're learning a lesson in culinary misery, we're talking about something deep-frying something that isn't food and then serving it up to a customer.

Which is what happened to this TikToker.

TikToker Jenai Meints was flabbergasted after sifting through her chicken fingers and french fries order in a viral TikTok only to reveal that the "chicken" that was breaded, fried, and served up to her was actually paper. That's right, it appears that whoever dumped her protein into a vat of hot oil either unknowingly cooked up some dead tree cutlet, or pulled a really gnarly prank on an unsuspecting customer.

In the clip, Jenai shows off the "meal" while saying, "I cannot make this up. I went to get my chicken...it's paper...they literally fried, f**king paper. They're not about to like me," she says at the end of the video before throwing the piece of paper on her container of food.

Eating food parchment paper is unfortunately a lot more common than some folks might realize. Sure you don't expect a restaurant that you're paying good money to is going to serve you up some breaded paper, but there are plenty of folks who accidentally eat this parchment, which a lot of food items are usually wrapped in/prepared with.

According to Jenai's TikTok, it appears that the restaurant she went to is Zaxby's, a chicken-centric chain that prepares sandwiches, wings, salads, chicken fingers, and a ton of other fast-casual fare.

She posted a follow-up TikTok discussing Zaxby's response.

"All right the long awaited Zaxby's, what happened? Here we go. so everybody in the chain of command messaged me, called, me, dm'ed me, whatever the case may be, got a hold of me to tell me that that video was hurting their business they wanted to offer a refund, they wanted to give me a free replacement meal, and take care of me for a while."

She continued, "Whatever that had meant," she clarifies in the video that from where she was recording the TikTok she wasn't near a Zaxby's location as she was out of state, "umm, I did get the refund for the meal and the replacement meal and they did send compensation for said situation that happened."

Jenai went on, "If the manager wouldn't have dismissed me and given me the same meal back, I don't think I wouldn't been nearly as upset, you know what I mean? It's upsetting obviously for that to happen but for how the situation happened and how long it took for them to do anything and that it took me posting a video that you know kinda went, kinda crazy for them to actually care."

The second clip then cuts from her sitting in her car to her seated on a porch, responding to the context of some of the comments that she received, "I did really, really like all the comments of everybody telling me that I was fat, and that I should got home and just make my own chicken and that wouldn't happen to me."

Jenai concluded her follow-up video by saying, "And you know what? You guys were my favorite comments because I looked at some of your profiles," she followed that up with a smile.

As of now, the original video is still up on Jenai's TikTok account she hasn't taken it down and judging from the secondary video she uploaded addressing the matter, she still doesn't appreciate the way the store manager addressed her after she brought up the paper conundrum. Plus, if she deletes the video, she won't have access to those comments about her weight that she adores so much.