A Raw Deal

How open is the phrase "All-You-Can-Eat"? That's what's at the heart of a lawsuit filed by a man against a Studio City, CA, sushi restaurant.

The plaintiff went into the restaurant to take advantage of its $28 all-you-can-eat sushi offer. But when the man began only eating the raw fish and leaving the rice behind, the restaurant's owner informed him that he'd have to eat the rice too, since sushi, by definition, always includes rice. Raw fish on its own is sashimi.

The diner replied that he can't eat the rice because he has diabetes. The owner offered to sell him two orders of sashimi for $25, $3 less than the sushi deal, but the man declined.

Instead, he left after paying a la carte prices for the sushi he'd picked at.

Two weeks later, it was lawsuit time.

The man seeks at least $4,000 in damages for the "humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish" he claimed to have suffered after being discriminated against "on the basis of his disability." The L.A. Times reports that he's offered to drop the suit in return for a payment of $6,000.

The real issue is whether or not "all-you-can-eat" means you have to eat everything on your plate before you get more. The restaurant owner believes that, since the deal was for all-you-can-eat sushi — and not sashimi — he's in the right on this one.

"The rice is part of the all-you-can-eat sushi," he said. "If you only eat the fish, I would go broke."

Man uses soup can to thwart robbery

METHUEN, MA — James Egal was hoping to make off with a pocketful of cash when he attempted to hold up Reynaldo Cepada inside a Walmart on Friday, police said.

What he got instead was a can of soup — right between the eyes.

"The victim did an exceptional job of defending himself," Methuen police Lt. Michael Pappalardo said of Cepada's response after Egal allegedly approached him and demanded the proceeds from the check he had just cashed at the Pleasant Valley Street store.

Egal initially asked Cepada to step outside the Walmart, Pappalardo said.

When Cepada declined, Egal punched him in the face and reached into his pocket to grab the cash, Pappalardo said.

"At which point, the victim picked up a can of soup, which he threw, ultimately striking the suspect in the forehead," Pappalardo said, reading from the incident report.

The fight then spilled outside. State police Trooper Todd Silverio, who was off duty, blocked Egal's attempt to escape and held him until Methuen police arrived, Pappalardo said.

Egal, 28, of Dover, N.H., had a significant amount of blood on his face and clothing, Pappalardo said.

He was taken to Holy Family Hospital for treatment, then moved to the Middleton jail, where he is being held on $2,500 bail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Lawrence District Court.

Cepada, 29, of Methuen, was not seriously injured in the struggle, suffering only a minor cut on his face.

Dine And Dash at 1-Year Old’s Birthday Party

Police in Troy are searching for a group who dined and dashed at a birthday party for a 1-year-old at Chuck E. Cheese's.

A man called and made a reservation for Wednesday's party for 15 guests at the restaurant at 740 John R, near the Oakland Mall.

The hostess gave a bill to the group, but was told "the person who is paying has not arrived yet." While the hostess went into a back room for a few minutes, the party left without paying the bill, taking the birthday cake with them.

All the party guests were last seen running toward a maroon Ford van leaving the parking lot.

The restaurant provided video of the suspect to investigators, according to police.