NYC Woman Accidentally Leaves $1,300 Scarf At Expensive Restaurant. When She Returns For It, They Tell Her Something Shocking: ‘Sugarfish Is Cancelled!!’ 

A New York City woman alleges that upscale sushi restaurant Sugarfish “stole” her Hermes scarf after she accidentally left without it. She said one thing to get the restaurant workers to give it back to her.

In a video with over 141,000 views, Shalali (@shalali) says she went back to the restaurant to pick up the $1,300 scarf, thinking it would still be there. However, a restaurant worker quickly crushed her hopes.

“They told me they donated it, and so there’s no way to get it back,” she says. Shalali wasn’t willing to accept that answer and decided to press further.

“And then I go full-on psycho. I tell them to call the police, and I’m not leaving until the police comes and lets me know where it is since there’s cameras all over the restaurant,” she recounts.

Shalali’s assertiveness may have led to a change of tune from the sushi restaurant workers.

“They said, ‘We’ll bring it back to you in two hours; our employee has it,'” she recalls from the conversation.

She leans back from the camera, showing that she was finally able to retrieve the scarf.

Can A Restaurant Keep Your Lost Items?

Many restaurants have a lost-and-found policy, according to a Food & Wine article by a longtime server.

This may include using reservation information to call the guest or holding onto the item in the managers’ offices. In a comment, Shalali confirms that Sugarfish actually has a lost-and-found box, but the scarf was not placed inside.

A person who finds a lost item may be entitled to it as the “finder” of the lost property, according to CLC, a legal resource center. But there’s a caveat. The original owner is still entitled to the item over them.

So, when a guest arrives to collect their lost item, it must be returned to them.

The bottom line is restaurants shouldn’t just donate or send its staff home with items left behind without the permission of the OG owner or a reasonable time passing. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

On the r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit, restaurant workers share items they took home from the lost-and-found.

“$250 vintage Oakleys were my favorite find. The scarves and cardigans are just a bonus. I also got a Coach wristlet once. We had a 30 day policy though,” one shared.

A second server admitted, “I’ve scored a burberry scarf and a pair of coach sunglasses. I also take cheap sunglasses that look cute, umbrellas, or little odds and ends. Figure if its been there a couple days its fair game.”

What Should You Do If You Lose An Item?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for what to do when you realize you’ve left something behind at dinner. However, restaurant workers on Reddit recommend immediately calling back to let them know what you left and where you left it. That way they can secure the item while you head back to the restaurant to pick it up.

Then, when you get to the restaurant, prepare to share a few identifying details about the item.

“Typically they’ll keep it behind the counter if they can’t identify the person who left it. If you ask for it and know specific details like the model or color and the date of when you lost it they’ll give it back to you,” one restaurant worker in r/NoStupidQuestions suggested.

Viewers Say They Relate

In the comments of Shalali’s TikTok, other restaurant guests said they’ve experienced similar frustration trying to recoup their lost items.

“My coworker had a similar situation at a diff restaurant where he left a designer ring behind and they said ‘oh that ring? yeah we have it’ then said ‘oh we couldn’t find it’ when he circled back lol. He never got it back,” one shared.

Another said, “I had a restaurant do this with my whole purse and they never gave it back. he camera showed their busser taking it. never got it back but they had to write me a check.”

A third said her friend had to step in at one upscale restaurant to get her purse back. As soon as they realized her VIP status, the story quickly changed.

She wrote, “This happened to me with my bottega bag at faena in Miami. Luckily my friend was a VIP guest there the following weekend and went nuts. Guess what.. they found it!”

BroBible reached out to Shalali via email and Instagram direct message and to Sugarfish via email for further comment. We will update the story when they respond.