Two black Iowa State students filed complaints of discrimination Monday with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission over an incident at Ames’ Perkins Restaurant.

Both complaints cite race and gender discrimination on the part of the restaurant’s night manager on the evening of Nov. 14.

Zondra Hughes and Tasha Thornton arrived at Perkins Thursday night with a friend, Davina Brown, about 11:40. After an hour of waiting for a place to sit, Hughes ordered a taco salad. After a 35-minute wait, she said, she received a salad which was poorly made.

Hughes, a vegetarian, said she asked the waiter to take it back and bring her a muffin instead. Hughes said the night manager, Lance, whose last name was not available, came back with the same “sloppy, half-filled salad bowl,” and insisted she pay for it.

“The place was packed. All eyes were on us, and he was standing over us telling us we were going to pay. He came to the table at least three times,” she said.

Hughes, a graduate student in journalism and mass communication, agreed to pay for the salad, she said, and asked for a take-home box and the name of the store manager. Lance refused to give the full name, she said, and gave only the name Mary Lin and the restaurant’s street address, 325 S. Duff Ave.

Hughes said Lance accused her and her friends, who dine at the restaurant regularly, of always wanting more food and drink than they are entitled to.

“Then I asked him: Would you eat this? He wouldn’t look at the salad,” Hughes said.

She said Lance proceeded to argue with Thornton for nearly 15 minutes.

Following the incident, Thornton said, they drank coffee and tea for 30 minutes and no one offered to clear their table. During this time, she said, the manager took the ticket away so they could not order again or get their drinks refilled.

Hughes said they were the only black customers in the restaurant.

Store Manager Mary Lin MacVey said she apologizes for the incident and hopes Hughes, Thornton and Brown return to the restaurant.

“We feel bad that we didn’t take care of business like it should’ve been. The salad should’ve been remade,” she said.

When the women left the restaurant, according to Hughes, Lance said he would pay for their meals. “It was a last ditch effort to make amends. What the hell was the problem with taking the salad back at the beginning?” Hughes said.

Sheila Lundt, assistant to the city manager who handles complaints of discrimination, could not be reached for comment.