Popular San Francisco burger restaurant Hamburger Project is currently a topic of Internet debate after a photo posted on Reddit showed raw meat on the ground outside the restaurant
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The restaurant blamed a negligent delivery driver in an Instagram post
Former head chef Geoffrey Lee also posted on Instagram about the incident, despite his removal from his role at Hamburger Project last year after a dispute with an influencer
A San Francisco hamburger joint is facing online backlash after aphotoon Reddit showed a raw meat delivery sitting on the ground outside the establishment.
Hamburger Project, a popular restaurant in San Francisco, was called into question after a Reddit user posted a photo of rolls of raw meat sitting on the pavement outside the seemingly closed restaurant. The photo also shows a jar of mayonnaise next to the meat.
The Reddit post now has over 3,700 upvotes and over 500 comments.
"Eating there is gonna land you in the Mayo Clinic," one user wrote.
"Why? The label specifically says GROUND beef," another replied jokingly.
The original poster alleged in a reply that the meat was "outside for an hour." They said the meat was gone when they went back.
Hamburger Project replied to the online debate in an Instagrampostand confirmed that the meat was left outside.
The restaurant wrote that the meat was left out because of a "delivery driver leaving the product unattended after being unable to access the restaurant—something we would never authorize or accept."
The post said that staff immediately disposed of the product after finding it outside because it was "obviously compromised by being on the ground, without proper temperature control."
"We take food safety extremely seriously and have already updated our delivery procedures to ensure this does not happen again," the post said.
They included an image of messages allegedly from the delivery driver, who said, "Hiiiiiii. I don't have time" before sending a photo of the meat and mayonnaise on the ground. At the bottom of the text exchange, a message said "this order is complete."
Hamburger Project did not immediately reply to PEOPLE's request for comment.
The account shared anotherpostfrom Geoffrey Lee, the former head chef of Hamburger Project, sharing his take on the matter.
"Like many of you, I find it unacceptable," he said. "It reflects a clear failure in the delivery process and does not align with the standards I believe in or uphold."
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He clarified that he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant after his "public and abrupt removal" by Hamburger Project partner Tan Truong.
As Lee alluded, this isn't the first time he and Hamburger Project havefaced Internet backlash.
In 2025, influencerKat Ensignreviewed Hamburger Project on TikTok, calling their single "Wisconsin" butter burger "good not great."
"These are thin burgers, they're giving Ozempic burger," she said, rating the burger a 7.2.
She later posted afollow-upwith a screenshotted response from Lee.
"Because someone needs to tell you to grow up," the message read. "It's pathetic being damn near 50 and trying to have influence over 20 year old somethings to try to remain some kind of sense of relativity. All of chefs look down on it and one of us has to tell you."
Many commenters took issue with Lee's messages.
"OMG for a business owner to say things like that?! That's wild," one person wrote.
TheSan Francisco Standardreported that Lee stepped down from Hamburger Project and his two other restaurants following the dispute.
Lee posted on Instagram in a now-deleted post addressing the conflict.
"After a few days of reflection, I would like to express remorse for how I conducted myself in the ordeal with Ms. Ensign," he wrote. "There are no excuses to be made, I took it further than it needed to be. I am sorry."
"Creating food and taking the risk to share it with others is something I am passionate about," he wrote. "After decades of dedication, seemingly non-stop work, and being consistently criticized for it without ask, I will utilize this time away to assess a better way to go about it."
In a statement to PEOPLE, Ensign said, "This experience has been challenging, especially knowing it resulted in the owner losing his job. That was never my intention, and it's been upsetting for everyone involved. I simply want to move past this and focus on my own work moving forward."
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