Just for the heck of it, who hear has ever gotten away with a dine & dash? And, conversely, has any one actually been made to wash dishes for a restaurant meal they couldn’t pay? Tell us about it, and all your dining out escapades…
Ulp! I hit "submit new thread’ once, waited a while, and I got a pop-up stating “new thread failed” (or more technical words to that effect.) I just hit “submit” a second time. Now I find out the thread went through the first time after all! TOBAL! :o
[covers head in shame] Once (I cannot stress that enough), when I was younger, a friend of mine and I (after a long night of drinking) went to a local Denny’s to assuage our hunger. We asked the manager, who was acting as host, to be seated in the smoking section. He informed us that there was no longer a smoking section in this particular Denny’s. My friend looked stared at him for a few seconds and then uttered the immortal line - “You have got to be f**king kidding me.”
It wasn’t terribly dramatic after that. We just ate and then walked out. [/covering head in shame]
Apparently no one (but the Ol’ Gaffer that is) ever lived on the wild side, was young & crazy & reckless. Oh well…
Twice, myself.
Once last year, once back in high school. On both occasions, I would have been happy to pay, but could not get anyone to bring me the %$#@# check!
The first time, I simply got up and left.
Last year, on the other hand, our waiter was apparently out back having a smoke break or something, and had his ticket book with him. We sat there for twenty minutes, waiting to pay. We flagged down other waitresses and waiters. I tried to pay the hostess. I even spoke with the manager. They all told me to hang on, they’d find my waiter!
Finally, I said, “The hell with this.” We got up and walked out.
We were pulling out of the parking lot, when the waiter came charging out the front of the place, waving our ticket.
I chewed his ass out loudly and publicly, right there in the middle of the parking lot with several people watching, paid the tab (exact change, no tip) and left.
What about you Art? Just living vicariously through the non law-abiding actions of others? 
I never did the dine and dash, but I’ve had it done to me. I noticed this group of teenagers slowing leaving one by one. Hmmm, I’m starting to get suspicious. I couldn’t just stand there and watch them, I had other work to do. I was running out food to my other table when I noticed the last one walking swiftly by me. I threw the food down on the table and ran outside with the head hostess.
We got the license plate number and called the cops. The cops told their parents about it. The kids came up with some lame excuse about how the food wasn’t good, yet they never said a word to me even though I asked them about it. The next day one of the kids came in and paid the tab… Well, management took 10% off because of the “bad” food. I never got a tip out of them but at least I didn’t have to pay for their meal.
In a word…yes.
Well, not entirely true.
Back in high school, my friends & I was having late night grub at Perkins. We were drunk, and one of my friends…let’s call him “Pat”…was getting especially rowdy. A pair of heavyset, frumpy, holier-than-thou hausfraus sat at a table near us and (loudly) commented about how they thought kids today (meaning the late 80s) were rude and undisciplined. After a couple of the ladies’ pronounced sniffing, “Pat” got up from our table and approached them. Can’t remember quite what was said, but it ended with “Pat” yelling “You think the sun shines outta yer asses! Well I got news fer ya, it shines outta MINE!” With that, he hopped up on their table, and flashed his moon at them. Needless to say, we cheered him on, and were all promptly tossed out our moons!
Ten minutes later, in the car, it occurred to us that we never gotten our check! Of course, all we’d been served yet was our coffee & a cheese sticks appetizer, and not our full orders. So, in a way, it was really more of a case of the manager wanting to be rid of us as soon as possible than us bolting out the door.
the old dine and dash…
I haven’t ever done it, but I have seen it happen a couple of times. I have had people come up to the register and say they were out of checks forgot their checkbook at home or some excuse, so I let them leave, to go get money- while they are gone I insist on keeping a drivers license. They always come back and pay.
I do wonder how many times dine and dashes occur, especially at places where one often leaves the money on the table and simply walk out.
I’ve never knowingly done a dine and dash.
Ahh you ask… but how could I do one unknowingly?
Well this happened a couple of years ago. I was working as a waitress downtown and got a call from some people I’d known casually to come hang out. So finishing up work (we were almost done anyway) I walked the couple blocks to the bar and hung out for a couple hours with the guys.
One guy (D) was paying. He’d just gotten his student loan in and stated that he was paying when I got there so I had a few beers. Later on we decide to take off and another guy (L) says he’ll drive as he’s the one with the car and hasn’t had anything to drink since before I got there. So 3 of us tndle out to the car while D goes to pay the tab. We sit and wait… and wait… finally D comes out and heads for us waiting down the street. Next thing we know we see the bouncer heading for D and taking him back to the bar. L goes to see what’s happening and eventually comes back and says that D is being detained and we have to go. So we head off.
I later found out that D tried walking out of the bar without paying for the pitchers he’d bought (about $60 worth) when he even showed us that he had about $1000 in his pocket. None of the rest of us had enough money to cover it, I was a last minute addition and wasn’t going to drink anything as I only had my tips from that night anyway (which was next to nothing) but when I was told D was paying and he said I could have a couple I was like okay.
Thinking on it I really don’t know if D ever paid or is he was charged with something or what. I actually have a few D stories, but now I no longer am in contact with him (my choice. Better this way considering his lifestyle) but it was an interesting introduction…
I don’t know if this counts. At 10:55 am on February 28, 2000, the Seattle area was struck by an earthquake. I was in line in the cafeteria at my job waiting to pay. Things started crashing and the lights went out. Being that we were in a very large building (can hold 20 737’s and 10 757’s) everyone headed for the nearest exit. I had thought about leaving my lunch behind but the cafeteria employees were the first ones out the door so I headed for the exit myself with my lunch. I stopped by my toolbox, grabbed my jacket and backpack and went out to my crew’s designated meeting area. While chaos ensued I found a spot and ate my illgotten lunch.
Put me down as an accidental ambler. Waiter brought me the bill (around twelve bucks IIRC) in one of those little notebooks; I stuck a twenty in it sticking out a little. He asked if I needed change, a question I always find in poor taste. When he returned, I opened the little notebook, took out the money, counted out enough for a reasonable tip, pocketed the rest and left.
When I got home and emptied my pockets, I had more money than I expected. I realized that the waiter hadn’t brought me my change due, he’d brought me twenty dollars in smaller bills. I thought about sending the amount due to the restaurant but never got around to it. I still think that would have been the right thing to do, maybe with an explanation and a gentle protest about that question I resent.
Ah, the tried and true dine and dash. Fantastic.
There was this restaurant in the mall that was our “haunt” in the suburbs (yes, we were mallrats), and there were several restaurants there that opened out onto the shopping ways. Basically, we’d wait until the closing time for most of the stores (the restaurants were open for longer), order food, eat and slip into the crowd.
Mind you, this wasn’t the fabulous and eclectic food court, but a restaurant set in the mall, so we still had to make a break for it. We had two strategies, which I’m sure others have used: 1) the bathroom slip-away; and 2) the mad bull rush. Depending on the rush, we’d usually get away, but we have been caught. Ah well, nothing like some elbow grease to pay for a meal.
Yep, once. And we got a sword out of the deal too.
The whole meal was a disaster. Two of the three entrees came totally wrong, the wine was bad, and we actually had to sneak into the kitchen and steal a tub of butter when the waiter dissappeared. When we were ready to leave we were totally willing to pay for this rotten meal, but nobody was there to take our money!
We tried to get anybodys attention – Creepy Girl did a noisy impromptu tap-dance on the tile floor to the cheers of the other patrons, my friend Merv did a puppet show with empty lobster claws, I added some unique new appitizers to the chalk board (Chicken cunnilingi in a smegma-artichoke sauce springs to mind), but we just couldn’t get anybody to take our money.
Finally, I yelled into the back: “Were leaving… Without paying… AND I’M TAKING YOUR STUPID SWORD TOO!!!”
I should mention that this place was done-up ala TGI-Fridays with a load of old-timey crap on the walls. I grabbed a civil war type sword off the wall, majesticly thrust it in my belt, puffed out my chest and strutted out the door.
My SIL almost did inadvertantly. We’d met at Applebee’s for an extended family dinner - MIL, FIL, BIL with his wife and kid, spouse, me, and our kid. Three separate checks. Waiter, as is usual, gave the checks to the men at the table. BIL passes his to his wife because she had the credit card. She thought he’d paid and was passing him the receipt. We were in the parking lot about to head to our respective cars when the waiter came charging out looking for the third check. BIL and SIL had a rather loud conversation with each other before figuring out what had happened, and she went back in and settled up. I hope she gave the poor guy a decent tip - he looked really worried when he came running out.