Sometimes nothing slaps harder than a late-night slice of cake, eaten in the pristine privacy of a hotel room. That’s the experience one woman was hoping to have on a recent New Orleans business trip.
However, things didn’t exactly end on a sweet note for Caroline (@caroline.in.the.city) when she ordered a slice of cake from Chophouse New Orleans. Under in-video text that reads, “Sir…a $38 slice of cake in this economy,” Caroline tells her story of a dessert gone wild. The TikTok has been viewed 315,800 times as of this writing.
A Little Something Sweet
“Tonight I went to a restaurant that I frequent, and I sat at the bar and had my meal,” she says.
Then the bartender, Bruce, asked if she’d like to see a dessert menu. She was already passingly familiar with the options and not really in the mood for the key lime pie or cheesecake. So she asked what else he had.
“‘We have this chocolate cake, and we have ice cream,'” she recalls him saying.
She thought it sounded great and then asked for her check and for a slice of cake to go. Next, he returned with the dessert all bagged up and gave her the check.
“This slice of cake is $38,” she says, clearly offended at the price.
How To Handle This Incredibly Awkward Situation
Caroline, unprepared and taken aback, says she refused the slice. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want a whole cake; I just want a slice,” she recalls telling him.
He reassured her that it is “just a slice.”
She says she replied, “I don’t want a $38 slice of cake.”
So what does the internet think?
“Good for you!” said Robyncz (@roybncz). “I would have panicked and taken the cake and been mad about it for the next 25 years.”
Another user, Maverick F. (@maverickfarr1), a self-described industry veteran offers condolences by way of insider knowledge. “There’s a 90% chance that cake was made my Sysco. And before you come for me, I’ve worked in the NOLA bar and restaurant biz since 1992. It’s Sysco food almost all of the time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Take Me Upstate (@jenni_kintique) is stuck on the cake itself. “I mean I could definitely eat a cake that feeds four people by myself. however, I’m not paying $38 for it.”
To be fair, the menu (which she didn’t see) does call it a “Gigantic Chocolate Cake” and notes that it feeds 4 to 6 people.
My Dish Is How Much?
Ordering a drink or dish out and not paying attention to the price is something surely most of us have done. But it is the kind of mistake you pay for, quite literally. So what to do if you accidentally overspend?
The short answer: Pay your bill. The slightly more nuanced answer? It depends on the situation. If you mistakenly leave your tab open and leave without paying, chances are the bartender will close it out at the end of the night and include an 18% to 20% gratuity for their troubles.
If you find that you’ve been mistakenly charged for another’s tab, contact the spot as soon as you can, and see if they will adjust the bill to just what you spent. Failing that, call your credit card and open a dispute. Finally, if you’ve recklessly ordered something to go, and it is more than you’re willing to pay—simply send it back. Perhaps not the most graceful resolution, but it’s one that protects your wallet.
Curious Is As Curious Does
In the caption to her video, Caroline asks, “Who the hell is buying a $38 slice of chocolate cake by themselves?”
The answer? Caroline, actually.
In two subsequent videos, she explains that not only did she return to the Chophouse, but she went there specifically to spend her per diem on cake. She’s planning on flying home to Austin with the mega-slice. But first, she wanted the whole experience, so she ate a slice of the slice at the restaurant.
In her update to “cake-gate” she explains that the slice was so massive, it was rolled out on a cart, cut up, and served with two giant scoops of ice cream. “I shared it with the guy sitting next to me,” she says. And still had two-thirds of the cake left to take home. The cake thankfully made it through security.
BroBible reached out to Caroline via TikTok direct message and comment and to the Chophouse via their contact form.
@caroline.in.the.city Who the hell is buying a $38 slice of chocolate cake by themselves in this economy? #nola #cake #travel #neworleans