Restaurant manager calls police on customers who are refusing to pay $9 for using the salad bar: '3 cop cars pulled in and surrounded them'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 21, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

There's a whole lot you can get yourselves worked up about in this world… and salads aren't generally one of them. It's really not all that big of a deal to pay for food that you've taken, especially when it's a couple of leaves of lettuce. The vibes you usually get from salad lovers are chill and wholesome, though there is absolutely room for overlap in that group for people who seem to give off those vibes when they're really just masking how woefully entitled they are. It's hard to believe that $9 of leafy greens from a salad bar would be worth a possibly disastrous run-in with the police. Usually, a restaurant would just roll over on this type of demand and write off the exchange as a loss rather than wasting time with the conversation any longer, which is probably what these customers were counting on. This restaurant manager wasn't having it, though, and called the cops on their entitled guests.

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    Cheezburger Image 10406573568
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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  • 02
    Called the cops over 9 dollars When I was in high school, I worked at a restaurant. At the restaurant, if you ordered a dinner, you normally got a free salad bar, and at our establishment, this also included the vegetables on the hot bar.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 03
    One night, a couple came in late and ordered drinks and steak dinners (well done). I explained that the salad bar was at their disposal and brought out their drinks. They were both re to me, but I was used to this behavior at the time. When you serve tables, getting treated like sho just comes with the job.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 04
    They had two plates each off the bar by the time their steaks came out. Keep in mind this was late at night and they were the only ones there. They didnt have to wait very long for their dinners. As soon as I put the steaks down, the wife cut it with her steak knife and said that the steaks were too tough.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 05
    I asked if they wanted the kitchen to recook them, but they said no, they just wanted to cancel the order. I took the plates back to the kitchen and told the manager, who proceeded to pull apart the steak with her hands. It wasn't tough at all. Customers did this sometimes. Our district manager was notorious for giving free stuff away. Most customers would run you to death and then when they got up to the register, they would demand discounts.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 06
    As was our policy, I changed the ticket to charge them for only salad bars and removed the steaks. When I brought the check to the table, they said no, we arent paying anything tonight. I explained the policy and said since you ate off the salad bar, I have to charge you for it.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 07
    They made the biggest ruckus ever over that check. It was only eight or nine dollars but they acted like we were doing them so wrong. Everyone on staff was upset. The restaurant was empty, and we were all there after close dealing with these people. The manager tried to explain it to them but they said they were not paying and that was final. The manager was done. She said if they left without paying she would call the police.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 08
    They left. The manager told me to follow them out and get their license plate number. I made a busboy go out with me because I was only 17 and scared of everyone. The manager called the police. The CBs heard the manager and walked past their car in the lot. I guess they were just going to leave it behind and come back later.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 09
    But here's the thing... we were in a small town and I guess the police didn't have a lot going on. Because I had only stepped a few steps into the parking lot when three cop cars pulled in and surrounded them. It was like a scene out of a movie and I'm so happy I got to witness it.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 10
    They marched the CBS right back in and made them pay their bill. The whole time the wife was crying and saying "Called the cops over 9 dollars! Who does that?!" And the manager stood there smug and said they were not welcome back. It was a pretty good night.
    via u/wiltedmapl
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    LISM Maison de MI Pizza 374517 POLICE GNC $33rd St Panera
    via Matteo Modica
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    indelibleretai - 5 hr. ago They thought the steak was tough, then they met your manager
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 13
    ScholarlyHac 5 hr. ago Well who throws a slOfit over paying a nine whole dollars for a meal? I bet they didn't want the steaks in the first place, just a free salad
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 14
    StealthSecrecy 4 hr. ago Definitely was the plan. Kinda sh◎ that they do it while wasting steaks they never intended on eating though.
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 15
    Darogaserik 5 hr. ago I'm a vegetarian but... wouldn't a well done steak be on the tougher side?
    via u/wiltedmapl
  • 16
    BlondieIsCasper 4 hr. ago In general yes. That is part of the reason I never order well done myself. If cooked right it can still be tender though. My assumption is they just wanted a free salad bar meal and thought they could get away with it. They ordered well done on purpose to make that claim.
    via u/wiltedmapl
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    DaniMW 4 hr. ago Smart of you to ask someone to come with you to check for the licence plate. Be safe, young people.
    via u/wiltedmapl

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