Fat Jacks Deli & Pub

This rating has nothing to do with the food which is always top notch. Please let it be known also that the waitress name of Stacey was so great trying to make up for what happened. The reason for this was my treatment by the staff. Background for reference. My spouse and I have come here to eat for nearly ten years,even though we reside on Lakeland's Northside. We had not been in the restaurant for near six months prior to this visit due to my health issues. Now the BIG fact I am a disabled person who is the handler of a 13yrs old service dog,she has been with me for near 12 yrs,she is a long haired, chocolate dapple,8lbs,dachshund,who not only has a vest to identify her,as well as a leash that says service dog,and a tag stating so,on top of which one of her patches states not to separate dog & handler(me). We have been here with her Everytime we eat here and never ran into any issues with our patronage. Now for what happened this visit: We came into the place as always and as always seated ourselves at the empty booth closest to the door. When seating ourselves I noticed a problem with my Dad's vest that needed to be fixed ,as I can't bend to fix it my SD put herself on my leg so I could correct the problem. It was at this point less than 60 seconds into our visit that a waitress came up to us and rather loudly(in a crowded lunchtime) "That dog isn't allowed in here ,because the last time you were here,he rushed out growling, barking,and nipping at a little boy" Needless to say I was caught off guard and stopped what I was doing with the best,so that I could address this false accusations. I explained calmly that she had the wrong dog,that we haven't been there in six months due to my medical issues,that my service dog has never and would not be allowed to act the way she stated. Again she said that the manager (who never approached us the whole time),told her to confront us,and again said we had to leave. Then walked away to talk to this "manager"?, I went back to finishing fixing the vest. That is when she returned saying that we needed to show proof of him being a service dog. My reply was to tell her there is by law no ID to prove a service dog and further more explained ADA federal law concerning service animals. I also offered to give them the phone number to the Justice Dept to call so they would know the laws better. At this she was visibly upset,and said" Well it is the law for my service dog to be off the seat,and to put Him on the floor" By now we were attracting an audience. Which looking at my spouse who is a veteran with PTSD,both myself& my service dog were feeling anxious. Trying to not have myself be triggered by the situation,in a calm manner, stated that I would put Her on the floor ,I laughed slightly,pointing out the fact that my SD is a female,& I am aware of the law,but I would have been done fixing her vest (that by the way is bright pink with matching leash) if she didn't keep interrupting me. Since she could then see that my SD was a female,I asked her when this incident happened with the other dog? She told me earlier that week,when asked if my SD looked like the dog involved,That is when she stated that she was off the day it happened so she had no idea what that dog looked like. At this point she left our table and spoke to that guy behind the counter. No manager came to talk to me. My spouse was aggravated,and wanted to leave but I was determined to eat a lunch I was looking forward to,but also it was the principal of the matter, because if I blet it go not only would we have to go through this again,other service dog teams would also be harassed. Within minutes,the very pleasant waitress Stacey came to our table, asking if everything was okay. I explained all we went through about my service dog,Stacey stayed she was wondering that day and it was a small white dog that was involved.At that I had my SD come out from under the table,and Stacey confirmed that my SD wasn't that dog. I wanted to make sure that the other waitresses &mgr. Where made aware of this fact. Stacey kept apologizing .