An out-of-town visitor posted a viral video over the weekend accusing an eatery at the Pearl of lacing her sandwich with Benadryl — yes, the allergy medication.
In the bizarre Instagram clip, the woman — who’s identified as Ella Gorgla in onscreen text — alleges a sandwich she purchased at Howdy Child in the Pearl’s food hall was laced with drugs by the employees who made her food.
San Antonio-area restauranteur Matti Bills, who owns Howdy Child, wasn’t immediately available for comment. However, police documents show the woman declined treatment after making her accusation. What’s more, she also has a long history of making outrageous allegations on social media, including claims that she’s been targeted by shadowy conspiracy.
In the video, Gorgla claims she became dizzy and her heart started racing after she ate half a sandwich she ordered at Howdy Child. The clip also shows her demanding that workers call 911.
“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt,” Gorgla told the befuddled-looking employees. “You can’t just dismiss this.”
The footage also shows San Antonio police taking a report from Gorgla but declining to investigate further.
SAPD’s report places the incident as happening last Friday. Gorgla told officers “she believed that her sandwich was laced with drugs” and requested emergency treatment. However, she declined medical treatment after EMS arrived, according to the document.
Although Gorgla’s clip has racked up more than half a million views as of press time, many who commented on it were skeptical of her claims.
“If it was ‘laced,’ then how come you didn’t pass out or go to the hospital?” Instagram user @flightbabe asked.
User @cykenp, who claimed to be a doctor, said Gorgla’s allegations are “just false.”
“Nobody that was affected by a drug that can actually work that fast would ever be able to recover that quickly to be recording and making coherent statements,” @cykenp wrote. “I am glad to see most of the comments reflect some common sense.”
Even so, other social media users stood in solidarity with Gorgla, adding that they have been victims of food drugging incidents at restaurants.
It’s not the first time Gorgla has alleged to be a victim of laced food.
Gorgla alleged in an interview with ENSTARZ that someone had broken into her home in September 2020 and laced the orange juice in her fridge with an unknown substance that “made her feel dizzy” and made her heart race.
In a December 2023 Instagram post, Gorgla also alleged that she was “gassed” in her hotel room in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to a slide at the end of her clip about the alleged incident in San Antonio, Gorgla claims to be a corporate whistleblower who has been stalked and subjected to attacks in at least 10 states across the U.S.
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This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.
