A Miami doctor is suing Hillstone Restaurant Group, parent of the Houston's chain, after a bad experience with an artichoke. Apparently Arturo Carvajal ordered the off-menu special of "Grilled Artichokes." Then he ate the entire thing, leaves and all.

According to the legal complaint via the Miami New Times, he suffered "severe abdominal pain and discomfort," was admitted to the hospital and an "exploratory laparotomy was performed where artichoke leaves were found lodged within [his] small bowell [sic]." Oh dear. He's suing for an unspecified amount for "bodily injury, resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, medical and nursing care and treatment, and aggravation of pre-existing conditions."

The lawsuit alleges that the server never asked if Carvajal knew how to eat an artichoke and that the restaurant had a "duty to train its table servers to explain the proper method of consuming an artichoke."

The restaurant chain's VP and general counsel feels bad that he want to the hospital, but said, "It's just kind of a silly notion... What's next? Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbeque ribs?"

Republished with permission from Eater.com. Authored by Raphael Brion. Photo via lorises/Flickr.