PRPG:

Revenge of the Restaurant

June 26, 2014

The customer is always right—but not when they’re jerks. Here’s how some restaurant owners and employees got revenge on some nasty patrons with the power of the Internet.

RENO 911

The Brewers CabinetIn 2013, a man ordered more than $100 worth of food and drinks at The Brewer’s Cabinet, a Reno brewpub…and then he skipped out on the bill. Employees noticed just as the man was heading out the door. They couldn’t stop him, but were able to take his picture and put it up on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Along with the photo, an employee wrote, “Attention Reno: if you know, or see, this dude, please call Reno Police immediately, and then remind him that his tab at The Brewer’s Cabinet is still waiting to be paid.” The conversation exploded as employees from other bars recognized the man as the person who had dine-and-dashed from their establishments, too. Two days later, police found the man, Saul Zelaznog—who was already at large for a probation violation.

VERY SKINTERESTING

Daniel McCawley owns the Atomic Grill in Morgantown, West Virginia. In May, a patron commented in his review of the restaurant on review site Urban Spoon that he thought the waitresses should “show more skin.” Appalled—McCawley noted that he is the “father of a 12-year-old girl and I’ve got five sisters”—he publicized the comment, and added a new menu item to mock the “more skins” request. For a month, the proceeds from Atomic Grill’s potato skins special were donated to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information Services.