South Florida restaurant-goers admit it: They love the thrill of the steal.
Spoons, steak knives, pizza cutters, sugar packets, napkin dispensers, glassware, ramekins: If it’s on the table, the temptation to snatch is often too great to resist.
“I ran a place that had the coolest little cube-shaped salt and pepper shakers,” Boynton Beach resident Sean Lubeski wrote in “Let’s Eat, South Florida,” the Sun Sentinel’s foodie Facebook group. “I ordered two dozen replacements almost weekly because of how many got stolen. Silver check presenters, cutlery. They take it all.”
In these days of high menu prices, restaurateurs say such pilfering is a contributor to their spiraling list of expenses.
“Every little thing can help or hurt,” said John Noble Masi, an assistant professor at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University. “Many operators perceive guest theft as a growing and costly challenge.”
Although theft by diners is a source of anxiety for proprietors, it’s a point of pride for some patrons. Here’s what some confessed to filching in “Let’s Eat” in response to a Sun Sentinel question.
The truth comes out
“Not proud of it, but, I’ve taken the small glasses with logos used at breweries for flights.” — Amanda Hirschel, Weston
“I have stolen so many knives from Council Oak (at the Seminole Hard Rock) back in the day (red handle). I know… not a good thing but at least I would tell the bartender, ‘I’m takin’ this knife!’ ” — Karen Koontz, Fort Lauderdale
“We took our then-6-month-old to Aruba. When we flew home the next day, we found a utensil and cloth napkin that our daughter shoved to the bottom of the diaper bag pocket. I still feel awful about it three decades later.” — Beth Anne Gidlund Carr, Coral Springs
“I’ve accidentally taken condiment cups, napkins and maybe a spoon or two. If possible, I’ll return them…” — Christy Minshew Henderson, Boca Raton
“I’ve paid for a few pint glasses over the years…..but I’ve got dozens.” — Ed Fulop, North Palm Beach
“Yes, one of the goldish cloth napkins from Olive Garden many years ago (they don’t use cloth napkins anymore). I still have it and use it all the time.” — Haley Hartjes, Gainesville
“One time: a salt and pepper shaker from Paris. My co-worker collected them. I regret stealing that to this day.” — Joann Rawn, Wellington
“I got really drunk at a restaurant and took home their ceviche dish …I’m not proud of it, but it happened.” — Alyssa Arena, Pompano Beach
Why, people?
Masi, the FIU professor, said some restaurant-goers see tableware as either a “souvenir” of their eating-out experience or a way to supplement a collection they have at home.
“They say, ‘I need salt and pepper shakers to complete my silverware,’” they reason, he said.
Boca Raton therapist Karyn Rosenberg said restaurant pilferers likely rationalize the booty they bring home with an assortment of justifications, ranging from an adrenaline rush to “the restaurant can do without this” to “I know I’m not a bad person.”
“There’s a feeling of wanting to get away with something,” she said. “We’re not talking about thieves stealing to support a drug addiction. These are people who can afford to buy a wine glass. They do not think of themselves as thieves.”
Restaurant owners speak out
Restaurateurs want customers to think of theft from their point of view. Many are small business owners who want to offer memorable experiences through these accessories but suffer a financial loss and take it personally when the adornments disappear.
Diana Boga, owner, DUA Champagne & Wine Lounge, Lantana
Boga said she recently offered a guest a flashy portable hook, decorated with a crystal wine glass, so she could hang her purse under the bar.
“When they left, it was gone,” she said.
Guests have also taken ramekins, salt shakers and 3D-printed coasters with the restaurant’s name.
“It doesn’t happen too often, but it does happen,” said Boga, whose lounge seats just 20 people. “I notice things because we’re so small.”
Adam Fine, managing partner of Tarpon River Brewing, with a stolen and returned Halloween mummy at Tarpon River Brewing in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Adam Fine, partner, Tarpon River Brewing, Fort Lauderdale
Can you imagine someone walking away with half of a 5-foot-tall mummy? Fine said someone took the upper body of a Halloween decoration that was sitting outside the bar five years ago.
“People get confident about stealing after they’ve drunk too much,” Fine said.
His security cameras recorded the heist, although the thief’s face was hazy. He posted the video on social media to “Facebook shame” the crook.
The mummy was returned anonymously two days later.
Fine said it’s “hard to quantify” how much gets stolen each year. He said pictures have been taken from the brewery’s bathrooms, where there are no cameras so the thief remains unknown.
He said he learned a lesson from the experience of the disappearing mummy.
“Now I zip-tie it to the bar,” he said.
Jennifer Malone, owner of Aunt Jenn’s Tea & Spice Shop in Wilton Manors, said she used to have about a dozen of these demitasse spoons but is now down to four from her original collection due to theft by patrons. (Jennifer Malone/courtesy)
Jennifer Malone, owner, Aunt Jenn’s Tea & Spice Shop, Wilton Manors
Malone began purchasing china in antique stores 20 years ago, hoping to one day own a tea shop. She started offering afternoon tea parties three years ago with about a dozen demitasse spoons. There are four left.
“Typically when larger tea parties come in, it’s a bit harder to keep track of what’s going on during a busy service, until after everyone leaves and you start doing dishes and realize they’re missing,” Malone said. “I have not tried recovering them because let’s be realistic: Is a thief going to be honest and tell the truth and return the spoons? Highly doubtful! For current tea parties, I try to take the time to count the cutlery before and after service.”
Malone told her story on Facebook and was overwhelmed with donations of tea cups, silverware and demitasse spoons, “enough to replenish what I had lost five times over,” she said.
“Theft affects a small business so much more than a corporate location because there is a sentimental attachment to my chinaware and silverware, or at least small business owners take it more personally,” she said.
Eddie Pozzuoli, Eddie & Vinny’s, Coral Springs/Dear Olivia, Parkland & several other restaurants
In 2023, Pozzuoli noticed a guest exiting one of his restaurants, Prezzo in Palm Beach Gardens, with a to-go bag that was glowing inside.
The glow resembled the light that emanated from the little battery-powered lamps that were on each table. They cost about $150 each. Pozzuoli confronted her.
“She was caught by surprise,” he said. “She said, ‘I don’t know how it got there.’”
Pozzuoli said he has learned several lessons about how to handle guest theft over the years. To give patrons fewer opportunities to steal, his servers now clear items such as salt and pepper shakers before the dessert menu comes out.
“I can’t expect my team members to be detectives,” he said. “But if we notice something is gone, we address it.”
He estimates guest theft costs about $1,000 a year per restaurant. He has pondered whether to have fewer decorations and niceties, such as soap dispensers shaped like mini liquor bottles that a patron stole in 2019 from his now-closed restaurant Tavolino Della Notte in Coral Springs.
He decided these accessories were important for the overall dining experience. Still, he wonders if guest-thieves give any thought to the restaurant’s perspective.
“Do people think this stuff doesn’t cost money?”
Dining and Cooking