A woman who found a cockroach in her husband's food at a Slim Chickens in Florida says she had to battle with the manager to get a refund

• A woman found a cockroach in her husband's chicken tender at Slim Chickens on their anniversary.
• Haile Kirkland said she tried to "quietly" address the problem, but had to battle to get a refund.

A woman who found a cockroach in her husband's chicken tender at a Slim Chickens branch in Pensacola, Florida said she had to battle with the manager to get a refund.

Haile Kirkland, 30, said she went to the restaurant for an anniversary lunch on February 16 with her husband and ordered two "Hungry Meals" that include seven chicken tenders, two slices of toast, a side, and two dips, according to the restaurant's website.

"My husband put a piece of his chicken down that he started to eat," she said. He told her to look at it and Kirkland saw "the cockroach cooked into the side of the chicken."

She told Insider they had already eaten half their food. "I brought it to the front counter and asked for a manager because I didn't want to make a scene," Kirkland said, adding that she wanted to "quietly address it with him."

Kirkland said the manager was "extremely rude and unprofessional" and responded to her: "Eh, it happens."

She said she had to fight with the manager to get a refund. She also no response from the company so decided to post pictures on Facebook.

Kirkland received an email on February 19, seen by Insider, from the restaurant owner, Craig Hacklander, who apologized. He said he was "embarrassed and apologetic" and was working with pest controllers to remedy the situation.

Hacklander offered her a Slim Chickens gift voucher but on February 25 asked her to take down the Facebook post because coverage of the incident "has really hurt our business," Kirkland said.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation visited the restaurant Tuesday and found another 16 dead cockroaches in the store, ABC affiliate WEAR reported. The regulator found no violations in a follow-up inspection.

Slim Chickens didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.