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That's a massive number. Even scarier for restaurant owners, most of the losses don't come in the form of easily foiled capers in which employees are stuffing their pants with steaks or siphoning beer off the taps. Instead, presumably well-meaning servers are giving away appetizers, failing to ring up coffees and helping themselves to fountain drinks. With management's blessing, my coworkers and I probably drink about 40 to-go cups of soda and tea every night.
But restaurant workers aren't the only culprits: A startlingly high number of customers filch what doesn't belong to them, and their motives are rarely innocuous. Intent on securing a souvenir or, perhaps, saving money on silverware, many restaurant guests treat the table like an all-you-can-take smorgasbord. And as the recession wears on, the problem seems to be getting worse.
Cutlery's by far the most popular item with thieving foodies, who seem to fancy specialized utensils like oyster forks and lobster crackers. A pint glass with the restaurant's name on it might as well be inscribed with the words "steal me." And while I've heard of customers pinching plates, candleholders and art, diners in my section seem to favor smaller trinkets.
I once worked at a fine-dining restaurant where every place was set with a pair of miniature salt-and-pepper shakers. They were irresistibly cute. Although it seems reasonable to assume servers might side with their light-fingered guests, adopting a "screw the management" stance, I've yet to meet a server who doesn't delight in policing criminal activity at their tables: At the salt-and-pepper place, we competed to apprehend thieves in the most white-tablecloth-worthy way.
When the salt and pepper shakers were spotted scrunched between a guest's purse and leg of her chair –- a place they appeared with remarkable frequency, we'd retrieve them, stage-whispering, "You seem to have dropped something." But an especially brazen coworker of mine concocted possibly the best blush-inducing line: After noticing the shakers were missing from a table, he announced, "Sirs and madams, I am now returning to the kitchen for your foie gras. I shall return and trust the shakers will as well." They did.
What do you think? Do exorbitant restaurant prices entitle diners to steal? How should servers handle customer theft?
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1-05-2010 @5:01PM cappy said... I've nicked a pint glass here and there, usually after draining too many of them.
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1-05-2010 @5:49PM sue said... Haha, I've never - would never dare - but my husband has. He says stolen pint glasses are just a regular business expense for a bar. I tsk, but it's kind of funny, and we have an eclectic collection of glasses.
1-05-2010 @6:00PM Debnev said... I have occasionally emptied the bread basket into my purse. The bread, not the basket, and felt like a moronic criminal doing so. But I have never taken anything else...
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1-05-2010 @5:34PM LinC said... I pinched an ashtray from a restaurant in Italy. The ashtray had the restaurant name and phone number on it, so I decided they wanted me to steal it. We tipped very well (the Italians usually just round up to the next full amount).
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1-05-2010 @5:56PM elky999 said... Stole a bottle of hot sauce a local restaurant makes from scratch. Perfect on burgers or fries, I couldn't resist.
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1-05-2010 @8:08PM Britt said... I stole a glass shaker and glass set from Fridays, and a couple of their margarita glasses. The server told us to!
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1-06-2010 @2:29PM Betsy said... How about a nice little sign on the table:
Souvenirs are available for sale at the cashier's stand. Should you wish to have the actual items used at your table, we will be happy to add the price to your check.
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1-06-2010 @9:42PM Cory said... Is that a sign at the Passive Aggressive Cafe?
1-07-2010 @7:31AM david e said... having worked and managed in various scales of retail what i learned from security services is that employees tend to steal in direct proportion to how they are treated, generally with a corollation between the boss and their wages. bad bosses/managers and poor wages are a bad combination, and restaurant workers tend to get that combination a lot. i'd venture that there's a lot more employee theft that is reported as customer theft because ti makes a better cover.
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