What Really Happens If You Can’t Pay Your Restaurant Bill?
The waiter will bill you after you treat yourself to dinner in a large restaurant. You pat your pockets for your wallet, mentally counting your tips, but you pat your pockets anyway. And you come up empty. You don’t have a wallet. Now what?
Your mind is racing with options for what will actually happen if you can’t pay your restaurant bill: will you be forced to work as a dishwasher, as many sitcoms lead you to believe? Will you get a lifetime ban from the establishment? Or, worst of all, is your server paying the bill on your behalf? (As an ex-waitress, in my experience, having your bill eating up a portion of your server’s earnings is usually the worst-case scenario.)
To separate fact from fiction, I interviewed the owner of one of my favorite BBC Tavern and Grill restaurants in Wilmington, Delaware. Full disclosure: This restaurant is owned by both my former employer and my current biological father, David Dietz. From now on, I’ll refer to him as “Ditz”, creating a sense of journalistic detachment that I’m sure is good for our father-daughter relationship. In any case, here’s what it really looks like if you find yourself unable to pay your restaurant bill.
From a restaurant point of view
First, Dietz tells me that real lunches and dinners are not that common, since his establishment has four or five of them a year. What’s more, the classic “dine and dash” option is more often misunderstanding than malicious. Especially in a large, busy restaurant, the waiter may forget to lower the bill, or customers may leave by mistake.
Whatever the circumstances, most restaurants put the occasional unpaid bill in their bottom line. I hope your bill isn’t astronomical and the restaurant is responsible enough to “compensate” it without hurting the waiter. On that note…
From a server point of view
Whether you made an honest mistake or deliberately ate lunch and rushed off, the money in the account must be covered somehow, right? Have you made the server pay for your negligence? It depends on the institution.
Dietz told me that Delaware and many other states have laws that prevent employers from deducting money lost during lunch and running from employees’ paychecks. However, USA Today reports that , under the federal Wage and Hours Act, “a restaurant may seek damages from an employee for lunch and running if it does not cause the employee’s wages to fall below the federal minimum wage.” fees.”
Even if your waiter doesn’t have to pay for your food expenses, you deprive him of tips, which is the main way to pay them.
From the customer’s point of view
Of course, neglecting to pay the bill is morally wrong. This is also illegal. However, Dietz says it’s unlikely the restaurant will press charges (especially since it would require tracking you down with little to no identification). If the restaurant decides to take legal action, the consequences range from petty theft to a felony, depending on the amount of the bill and state laws.
No matter what, your face will be burned into the memory of your waiter or bartender. Dietz says that at the BBC Tavern and Grill, like many other restaurants, there is a cork board at the back with the names and descriptions of people who have canceled their account. If you are hoping to return, you better be prepared to pay.
So, can you be made to wash the dishes?
Dietz says no business in their right mind would invite an unprepared customer to a dangerous dishwashing station. The liability risk associated with washing knives and heavy plates is much more expensive than a single dinner bill.
Even if the restaurant manager wants to make you work for your crimes, he is not allowed to. According to the FDA , if you are not needed in a food establishment (as an employee or contractor), you are “not permitted to be in the cooking, storage, or dishwashing areas.” So if you want to own that powerful restaurant grade dishwasher hose, you’re better off hiring official channels to do the job.
Be honest and find other payment methods
A lost wallet is no reason not to pay. If you have a phone, you have access to payment. I’m sure your server doesn’t want to receive cryptocurrency tips, but in many places, money transfer apps like Venmo should be fair game. Make sure the waiter gets their manager involved so they don’t run into trouble trying to cash out at the end of their shift.
If your wallet is in the car and you need to leave and come back, you can offer your phone as collateral. If your wallet or credit card is at home, you can offer to pay by phone later that evening, but don’t expect every restaurant to take your word for it. This brings me to the last point.
Be honest about your situation, ask the restaurant manager directly what is the best solution, and then work with what they say. Resolving an unpaid invoice will be much easier if everyone is honest and polite. And if you are a real gourmet? I hope one day you will pay for your crimes.