Snake falls into margarita at Henrico restaurant, leaving woman traumatized

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- It's a story you have to see to believe. Carletta Andrews said she's traumatized after a snake fell from the ceiling of a Mexican restaurant in Henrico County and into her margarita.

It happened at the Patron Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Sandston in the evening of April 16. In an exclusive interview with 8News Anchor Autumn Childress, Andrews shared that she and her husband had just finished their food when she felt something on her forehead.

"I leaned in to take a sip and I noticed something hit me in the forehead and I looked at my husband like what was that," Andrews said. "When I turned around, I saw the snake in my margarita." 

"It was moving. It started wrapping around my straw," she said.

The rest is sort of a blur for Andrews. She recalls restaurant workers trying to remove the baby snake with a stick, but she said another customer grabbed it and released it outside.

"I kept saying please don't let it go in my purse," she said. "I left shaking, I was traumatized." 

Andrews said the restaurant offered to move her to a booth, but she just wanted to leave quickly.

Still in shock, she posted the photo of the snake and a recount of what happened on social media, and the comments ranged from shock, to disbelief, and even some denial.

One commenter wrote, "The way my soul would have left my body."

Another person wrote, "Girl, they would've been taking me to the King."

Andrews said she and others are surprised that she handled the situation so well, but that she still wants answers.

8News reached out to the owner of the restaurant, who said he was aware of the situation. He said that the snake likely got into the restaurant through the air conditioning unit. Childress asked what precautions were now in place to prevent this from happening to another customer, to which he said, "nothing."

8News also reached out to the Virginia Department of Health to access previous inspections.

Records show inspectors found several violations during a routine inspection in December 2024 including mold, broken handles, missing ceiling tile in the dish room, cracked floor tiles throughout the kitchen and leaky ceiling tiles.

Records show these violations were corrected during the follow-up inspection six days later.

Andrews said precautions or not, she hopes something can be done to prevent another person from leaving scarred.

"If that was the baby — I fear.... is the mom there?"