Who is Tim Richter? Toccoa Riverside Restaurant owner under fire as mom alleges viral video shows being booted from restaurant over breast feeding

The owner of the Blue Ridge, Georgia-based Toccoa Riverside Restaurant has faced online backlash after a video went viral. 

The TikTok clip posted by Aris Kopiec (@paaris_injector) alleges she was kicked out of the eatery for breastfeeding her infant. The video has garnered over 3.1 million views, with many criticizing the person in the video asking the mother to leave. 

Toccoa Riverside Restaurant is owned by Tim Richter, 67, who has run the business for 33 years. He previously made headlines in October 2023, after a photo of the eatery’s menu went viral on the subreddit r/mildlyinteresting. According to a user, u/LPineapplePizzaLover, the restaurant charged the guests extra for bad parenting. The menu stated: 

“Adult surcharge: For adults unable to parent $$$.” 

According to Reach Markets, Richter claimed to have implemented the surcharge at his restaurant for several years, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, a customer, Lyndsey Landmann, spoke to Today.com and mentioned taking the surcharge as a joke. 

She had visited Toccoa Riverside Restaurant with four other families, including 11 kids. Landmann asserted that the eatery charged them $50, despite the children being well-behaved. She recounted Tim Richter allegedly yelling at her after she protested the surcharge:

“I was like, 'They were quiet the whole time.' He got in our faces and told us that we belonged at Burger King and not at his restaurant. We asked to speak to the owner and he said he was the owner. I looked around the restaurant and everybody was frozen watching this show he was putting on. He was yelling.”

In 2025, the restaurant and Tim Richter again made the headlines after the viral incident. During a conversation with Fox Business, the owner declined to confirm whether he was the individual in @paaris_injector’s video and defended his restaurant: 

“I’ve had the restaurant for thirty-three years. We’ve been breastfeeding for thirty-three years.” 

Richter claimed that the viral incident had been "staged for clicks,” and refrained from commenting any further. 

Netizens criticized the Toccoa Riverside Restaurant owner for allegedly kicking out a mother for breastfeeding her infant 

Aris Kopiec shared an 11-second-long video of her alleged confrontation with an individual at the Georgia eatery. The argument was over breastfeeding her infant in public, which the man at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant reportedly objected to. The video starts abruptly, with Kopiec asking the person at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant:

“Because you don’t allow women to breastfeed in here?” 

The individual replied angrily: 

“No, I’m sorry, ma’am. You come in here and breastfed right next to a table. So, get on out of here and ease on down. Enjoy your meal, enjoy your time.” 

The text in the short clip reads: 

“No mom should be shamed for feeding her baby. Ever.” 

Kopiec captioned her viral TikTok post: 

“Breastfeeding is NOT illegal. Breastfeeding is NOT inappropriate. Breastfeeding is NOT something a mom should be kicked out for.” 

She added: 

“Georgia law protects it — yet Toccoa Riverside Restaurant didn’t seem to care. I was kicked out of Toccoa Riverside Restaurant for breastfeeding my infant. In the moment, I was overwhelmed and didn’t advocate for myself.” 

Aris Kopiec stated: 

“Moms: know your rights, and let’s hold businesses accountable — share this to help educate others and this restaurant about breastfeeding laws!” 

The mother received support from the online users in the comments of her TikTok clip. 

“Why do people act like it’s dirty or something? 🥺,” a user wrote. 

“I’m confused 😒what is wrong with breastfeeding in public? Its a hungry baby eating. What’s so uncomfortable about that?,” another user said. 

“There's nothing disgusting about breastfeeding what is wrong with people,” one user commented. 

“It’s actually illegal for anyone to stop you from nursing or to make you leave a place for nursing,” another one asserted. 

Many users also defended the individual’s actions. A user commented: 

“People its private property. They told her no. It's that simple.”

Another user wrote: 

“that's his rules his restaurant just like how no dogs or stuff” 

One user stated: 

“Respect their opinions, their place, their rules” 

Another one avoided taking any sides and said: 

“Two things can be wrong at the same time. Thats what’s going on in this video.”

@paaris_injector Breastfeeding is NOT illegal. Breastfeeding is NOT inappropriate. Breastfeeding is NOT something a mom should be kicked out for. Georgia law protects it — yet Toccoa Riverside Restaurant didn’t seem to care. I was kicked out of Toccoa Riverside Restaurant for breastfeeding my infant. In the moment, I was overwhelmed and didn’t advocate for myself. Moms: know your rights, and let’s hold businesses accountable — share this to help educate others and this restaurant about breastfeeding laws! #BreastfeedingRights #NormalizeBreastfeeding #MomLife #BreastfeedingJourney ♬ original sound - paaris_injector

Speaking with Fox Business, Aris Kopiec recounted breastfeeding her infant, while adding: 

“The only people who could see me were at my table. I covered myself immediately.”

Talking about her argument with the restaurant owner, Kopiec recalled: 

“He looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do that here.’ I wasn’t even breastfeeding at that point. I was holding my baby in one arm and helping my kids with the other. He wouldn’t let me get any words out. He kept saying, ‘I have to protect my restaurant. You need to go to a corner.”

Kopiec mentioned going outside after the confrontation and later returning to gather her belongings. Inside, she claimed to have spoken to the owner again: 

“I just told him, if he wanted to protect his restaurant, he should follow the law. That’s when he lost his mind.”

Kopiec mentioned recording the argument and admitted that she felt she was in the wrong and wanted to apologize. She added: 

“But then I reminded myself — women have a legal right to breastfeed. I did nothing wrong.” 

Aris Kopiec also shared the video on Instagram, where it has garnered 1.1 million views, as of this writing.