A Father’s Day celebration turned into an ugly one for a Black father when a dispute over a restaurant bill led to police being called. Junior, a father of four, said employees at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, threw away food his family ordered before charging him for it.
Junior took his four children aged between 1 and 11 to the restaurant for Father’s Day. They had been going there regularly, sometimes three times a month, per a local outlet.
However, the outing took a turn when the family ran into problems with an appetizer order.
Junior said they ordered shrimp well-done and the first serving didn’t taste right, so the family sent it back and asked for a replacement. When the replacement order arrived, Junior said it still wasn’t right, so they returned that one too.
It got worse when the family later found restaurant employees had thrown away some of their food.
“We caught them mid-act,” Junior said.
The father said the restaurant also threw away part of his chicken. He said employees charged him for the shrimp even though the family had not eaten it. “Why would I pay for the shrimp if we didn’t eat it?” he asked the staff.
Junior said he had returned the food and shouldn’t have been asked to pay for something his family hadn’t eaten.
Ruth’s Chris Manager Called Police After Father’s Day Dinner Dispute
Junior claimed the restaurant also threw away part of his chicken. BY:
@JUNYA90SJUNYA/INSTAGRAM
Eventually, the disagreement reached the restaurant’s general manager, Erin, who called the police after the bill dispute escalated.
Junior said he was particularly annoyed because he had brought all four of his children to celebrate Father’s Day and thought the restaurant was making an unnecessary situation out of a food complaint.
He also wondered if race had affected the manager’s treatment of his family. “Is it because we’re Black, Ma’am?” he asked the manager. She denied that race was a factor.
Junior also alleged that the manager had referred to an earlier incident involving the family when talking to responding officers, but he asked what it was about and she said she couldn’t explain because he didn’t ask.
The father insisted that his family had been regular customers of the restaurant and spent a lot of money there over the years. “We come here all the time,” he said.
He was also frustrated that the restaurant had used police to investigate an appetizer his family had eaten there.
Manager Banned Black Father and His Four Children From Restaurant Indefinitely
The manager told him that the family had been trespassed from the place forever. BY: @JUNYA90SJUNYA/INSTAGRAM
The confrontation reportedly led the restaurant to ban Junior and his children from returning.
The manager told him that the family had been trespassed from the place forever. When Junior asked if it was permanent, she said yes.
He again asked whether the ban had anything to do with their race, but the manager denied it and said the decision was based on what happened.
Junior felt the family had been treated unfairly and said that if he had been white, then the manager would have done things differently.
“If I was a white guy coming here with his four kids or whatever whatnot, she wouldn’t trip,” he said.
He also said he thought the manager should lose her job over the incident.
Although the manager called the police, Junior said the officers who arrived with him sided with him over the disputed appetizer charge and agreed he didn’t have to pay for the food.
The local outlet reported that it called the restaurant and spoke to someone named Erin. When the publication asked questions about the incident, she reportedly ended the call.
What started as a Father’s Day meal for four children ended in a fight over food, a police presence and an indefinite ban from the restaurant they had been frequenting.
Dining and Cooking