Woman Nearly Dies of Shock from Good Service at Greenwood Restaurant

Susie Smith, 49, was taken by ambulance from Joe's Eat Palce to Greenwood Leflore Hospital at 12:30 p.m. Monday but is currently in stable condition.

Smith “apparently suffered from cardiac arrest due to shock but is in stable condition in the ICU,” said hospital spokesperson Jane Doe. Smith will hopefully be released by the end of the week, Doe said.

Smith's daughter, Susan Jones, was dining for the first time at Joe's with her mother when Smith became ill. Joe's opened on Park Avenue in January.

“It was after that third water refill that she broke out in a cold sweat,” Jones said. “I thought she was just havin' a hot flash. After they brought the extra side of Ranch out in less than 20 minutes, she started complaining of a pain in her left arm, but I didn't think nothin' of it. When they brought the check back split three ways with the appetizers on mine, she just fell out, and I called the ambulance.”

Joe's owner, Joe Mama, said he is sorry about the incident, but Joe's Eat Place, a Memphis-based franchise, will continue to pride itself on customer service.

“Joe's trademark is customer service,” Mama said. “We certainly don't want to cause our patrons psychological trauma, but we simply believe a waitperson should take a customer's drink order within 15 minutes of being seated and return with drinks within five minutes. We also believe in regular refills; giving customers their choice of side items and not picking them for them; not scrapping plates at the table; offering extra condiments; and splitting checks properly. When a customer asks a question, we never say no. We just think of Obama: 'Yes we can.'”

Jones said Joe's food was excellent, but she won't take her mother back to dine in.

“We're so used to getting bad service in Greenwood, we didn't know what to do with ourselves,” Jones said. “Mother usually tells her office that she needs a two-hour lunch break whenever we go out, because everybody knows you can't get in and out of a local restaurant in less than an hour and a half. I'm not sure she can take the trauma again.”