7 people were poisoned with meth at Florida hibachi restaurant Nikko. Here's what we know

A Japanese hibachi and steakhouse in Florida is the center of an investigation surrounding seven people who were allegedly poisoned with methamphetamine after eating together at one of the restaurant’s hibachi tables on June 9.

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was investigating the incident at Nikko Japanese Steak House on June 10, but no arrests have been made so far.

Drug tests conducted at the Santa Rosa Medical Center confirmed that at least three of the people involved in the incident tested positive for methamphetamines and negative for all other drugs tested.

Here’s everything we know about the incident so far.

What happened at Nikko Japanese Steakhouse

Husband and wife Brandon and Jordan Gray and their friend Matthew Gilley said they were seated at a hibachi table at Nikko Japanese Steakhouse on Friday night with four other guests who had already been served salads.

Pensacola Attorney Aaron Watson, who the Grays and Gilley have hired, said neither party involved in the incident knew each other beforehand.

According to Jordan, she and her husband didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary during the dinner but began experiencing symptoms later that evening.

"None of us slept. All of us had racing hearts. It was very scary,” Jordan said.

Brandon called a friend who is a police officer in Santa Rosa County to tell them about their symptoms and ask for advice. The friend advised them to head to the hospital because another family had arrived in the emergency room after eating at Nikko with the same symptoms.

First report: SRSO Major Crimes investigating after 7 treated at hospital after eating at Pace restaurant

The family who checked into the emergency room was the same family the Grays sat with at Nikko.

Drug tests were conducted at the Santa Rosa Medical Center on Saturday and confirmed that the Grays and Gilley were positive for methamphetamines and negative for all other drugs tested.

The sheriff's office announced on the same day that they were opening an investigation into the incident. One suspect has been interviewed but no arrests have been made.

Watson said the Grays are considering filing a lawsuit, but they want to know what exactly happened first.

‘Sweet soy sauce’ stood out

According to Jordan, she and her husband regularly dined at Nikko, a restaurant in Pace, and always had a pleasant experience. This time, however, Jordan said the chef’s insistence that they try the “sweet soy sauce” stood out to her.

"We got a little bit of a lecture from the chef on how healthy soy sauce is for you, particularly that you should take it like once a day," she said. "Other than that, like I said, everything was fairly normal.”

The Grays took leftovers home and turned the food over to law enforcement for further testing.

Meth confirmed: SRSO confirms Nikko's Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar patrons were poisoned by a narcotic

Nikko Japanese Steak House releases a statement

Nikko Japanese Steak House, a family-owned establishment, has been cooperative with authorities throughout the process. The restaurant issued a statement on its social media page saying they were disheartened by what happened.

"To think that people were harmed by something on our premises is heartbreaking," the statement said. "We are a family-owned business who serves the families of Pace. We can assure you that this was an isolated incident that in no way reflects our service as a whole. From the moment we were informed of the incident, we closed the doors and cooperated fully with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Health Department, and all inspectors who combed every inch of our restaurant and found us in complete compliance, with no violations.”

The post, along with every post dating back to February 2022, has been deleted from the restaurant’s Facebook page.

The restaurant closed on Monday but reopened on Tuesday after issuing the statement.

What do we know about Nikko Japanese Steak House?

Since the incident, social media has been abuzz regarding the restaurant. There has also been some confusion in online chatter about the restaurant's name and location.

According to the Florida Department of State's Division of Corporations, Fernando Chaves became the president/vice president in 2009 of Nikko Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar Inc. located at 4510 U.S. Highway 90.

Florida family poisoned lawyers up Family poisoned with narcotic at Nikko Japanese Steak House lawyers up

Roughly five years later, the state dissolved the restaurant's ability to conduct business in 2014 for failing to submit an annual report, according to the Division of Corporations.

In August 2013, Ursula Pinho took control of the restaurant and began Nikko of Pace Inc. at the same Pace address.

On Feb. 1, 2023, Pinho filed a second Nikko of Pace restaurant called Nikko of Pace Dogwood LLC located at 5828 Dogwood Drive in Milton.

Despite the various name changes with the Division of Corporations, the Pace location's sign reads "Nikko Japanese Sushi Bar."

Local reaction to the meth poisoning at Nikko

The incident has garnered widespread speculation and discussion online around what happened at Nikko. Brandon posted on Facebook warning people not to visit the restaurant around noon on June 10, which received over 1,000 comments and was shared over 5,000 times.

In comments, some people expressed skepticism around the claim.

“It’s just kinda weird only 1 table got sick. 7 people. Not the whole restaurant. So, I’d have to rule out it was in the food, if so, everyone would of been sick/high,” wrote one commenter.

“This doesn’t make any sense. You’re currently in the E.R waiting room, yet you’re certain that you ingested methamphetamine,” said another.

Some began theorizing about what led to the incident, suggesting that the culprit was a disgruntled employee.

“I’m not gonna lie, it probably was an employee. I’m sure they didn’t do it intentionally but cross contamination is very easy. Really careless regardless.”

Most expressed shock as they tagged friends and family to share the story.

Online reaction to the restaurant has been a mixed bag of people making jokes at the restaurant’s expense, fans coming out in support of the restaurant and backlash.

Contributors: Benjamin Johnson and Jim Little - Pensacola News Journal

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Nikko Florida hibachi restaurant allegedly poisons 7 people with meth