A man walked into a Florida Outback Steakhouse for dinner. However, he says he left disappointed after 15 minutes of being ignored by the restaurant staff.
In a video with over 1 million views, TikToker and restaurant owner Gangsta Gramps (@gangsta_gramps) films himself walking away from Outback Steakhouse, where he had hoped to eat dinner.
“I am one of those customers. We don’t complain. We just got up and left,” he says. The TikToker shows footage of him and his wife sitting at the table with their menus. No staff acknowledged them or took their order for 15 minutes, even though the restaurant wasn’t busy, he notes.
“Now we’re going to another restaurant,” he says, sharing that he ended up dining at BJ’s. He compliments the restaurant’s great prices, food, and service. BJ’s official account comments, “Love to see it!”
“It’s a shame because we used to go to Outback all the time. And we just recently started going again,” he continues. “All of the sudden, here we go again.”
At the end of the clip, he speaks directly to the restaurant’s proprietor and suggests that he address the issue with staff.
How Long Should Guests Wait After Being Seated?
Most restaurants advise their wait staff to greet tables as soon as possible, even if they are busy and can’t serve guests immediately, according to St. Louis Magazine’s dining editor. However, customers say that sometimes waiters don’t adhere to these policies.
“My girlfriend and I waited 15 minutes once before we finally went up and got someone. We were both in the industry at the time so we were more just waiting [to] see if anyone was ever going to come over. The girl that finally came over sucked a– and we left after one drink,” a commenter on the r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit says.
Another wrote, “We once left a restaurant because our server brought us water, then was never seen again for more than 10 minutes in a totally dead restaurant.”
Do Viewers Agree With Him?
In the comments, viewers were split on whether the TikToker should have walked out without saying anything. Some agreed that his choice was the most appropriate.
“Coming from a server, this is a valid reason to walk out,” one said.
“15 minutes? Thats justified to walk out,” a second wrote.
However, some said that he should have asked where his server was in case there was a mix up at the host stand.
“So you probably got sat in someone’s section that was already cut. It’s normal for servers to not pay attention to other ppls sections,” a commenter suggested.
Another said, “You should’ve told the managers and the hostess and the waitress why you were leaving.”
Gangsta Gramps explained in a comment why he refused to bring up the issue to a manager. He wrote, “I did not ask for help. I just quietly go about my business. I spent 30 years managing restaurants, my days of that are over, especially if I’m not getting paid.”
UPDATE: In an email to BroBible, he shares how he would have prevented a customer from waiting too long during his career as a restaurant manager.
“Throughout my career I’ve had customers that were missed because of confusion: whether it’s a server rotation issue, or a hostess issue, or a section issue….things happen,” he writes. “As a manager, you try to be as proactive as possible by communicating before and all through the shift to prevent or limit these mishaps.”
Did Outback Reach Out To The TikToker?
In a follow-up video, Gangsta Gramps shares a screenshot of a TikTok direct message from Outback Steakhouse.
The message reads, “We hear you and we’re so sorry we let you down, mate! Could you please send us your contact info so we can get in touch and make it right?
However, the TikToker insists that he “doesn’t want anything from Outback.”
“We’re going back next week. We’re going to continue to support our local restaurants. We chose to get up and leave,” he says. “We chose not to say anything.”
He reiterates that he made the video simply to share constructive criticism with the workers at the Outback location.
“When we go back next week, we’re going to be recording it. Good or bad,” he continues. “We don’t want anything except to be acknowledged when we sit.”
@gangsta_gramps @Outback Steakhouse @bjsrestaurants #restaurant #service #foryourpage
BroBible reached out to Outback Steakhouse via email for comment.