The owner of Taste of Italy in Latham, New York, confronted a man who didn’t pay for his food. However, viewers are split on how the confrontation was handled in the now-viral TikTok.
In a video with over 189,000 views posted to Taste of Italy’s official account (@tasteofitalylatham), a man in a red plaid shirt argues with the restaurant’s owner at the counter.
“We made you the food. Here it is. Now you’re saying you have no money,” the owner says to the man.
The man has on a hospital bracelet and several broken, multicolored acrylic nails on one hand.
The owner turns to other guests in the restaurant and asks, “Hey guys, do you guys go out to eat without money? No, you bring money with you when you go out to eat.”
The man says the owner is “messing” with him and continues to argue with the owner.
“You tried to rip me off. It’s called theft of services,” the owner continues.
Despite his frustration, he lets the man have the food without paying and tells him not to come back. On-screen text clarifies that he did not call the cops after the interaction.
What Can Restaurant Owners Do If Someone Refuses To Pay?
It’s generally up to the owner or manager of a restaurant to decide what to do if someone can’t pay for their meal. While some commenters encouraged him to call the police, other restaurant workers on Reddit shared what they’ve done instead.
“Anytime I’ve seen it happen we will take your license as collateral until you come back. Getting a new license is usually cheaper than the meal though so I don’t know what they’d do if they never came back,” one wrote in r/Waiters. “Also the restaurant definitely isn’t gonna make you do dishes or anything as it’s a liability.”
“I had that happen once, he ordered the cheapest thing on the menu very polite. When I took him the check, he looked at it. Ask me to send the manager over,” another shared.
The commenter continued, “He went & they spoke, quietly. Then he left. Only then did the manager tell us. He said he told him he didn’t have any money & the manager told him to leave. That was it.”
Did Viewers Agree With The Italian Restaurant’s Owner?
In the comments, viewers debated whether the restaurant owner should have loudly argued with the man or asked other customers for their input.
“Instead of making customers uncomfortable, I’d just call police and they can deal with it outside,” one suggested. The owner responded, “No one’s uncomfortable. Stop being sensitive [we’re] in new york. This is common.”
“Why bring your customers into this? I personally would never go back why put me on the spot?” another asked.
A third added, “Owner is making it uncomfortable for all his patrons. should of called the cops or let it be.”
Others sided with the owner and praised him for still giving the man food after confronting him.
A commenter wrote, “I can tell the person filming is a good person and didn’t deserve getting robbed like this.”
“Nicer person than I would be.. would have straight up called the cops,” a second said.
BroBible reached out to Taste of Italy via email for further comment.