This California restaurant wants Sriracha so badly, it’ll give away food for a bottle

A restaurant in California is trying to stay on top of the Sriracha shortage by offering free food to customers who bring in a bottle of the hot sauce.

Bé Ù, a Vietnamese takeout spot in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, is offering free banh mi, popcorn chicken or summer rolls in exchange for a 28-ounce bottle of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha. It is also offering half off to customers who bring in a 17-ounce bottle.

Bé Ù uses nearly a bottle of Sriracha daily, as it goes through 312 bottles annually, the eatery said.

“Of all the supply chain issues in the world, this one feels personal,” the eatery wrote June 22 on Instagram.

In April, California-based Huy Fong Foods announced that it suspended the sales and production of its famous sriracha sauce due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers. The company said all orders placed on or after April 19 were scheduled for after Labor Day (Sept. 6).

“I’ve personally been going to different markets and stuff trying to gather, and one of my employees recommended, ‘Hey why don’t you just post it on Instagram,’” chef Uyen Le told ABC7 News.

One person picked up bottles to give to the restaurant and asked how the exchange works.

“[J]ust bring ‘em in & we’ll give you a coupon for each bottle that you can redeem whenever you’d like,” the eatery replied.

This post also sparked conversation on Instagram with users crowdsourcing information about where to find Sriracha in the area.

“Looks like Glendale Target has a bunch! $3.19 per 17oz.,” one user wrote.

“I saw a bunch of 17 oz bottles at the Albertsons in Los Feliz today if that helps any,” another wrote.

Within a week, the restaurant has collected more than 100 bottles, according to ABC7.

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.