‘I left a restaurant without paying for my food after waiting an hour’

17 November 2022, 14:36 | Updated: 17 November 2022, 15:08

A man has been criticised for leaving without paying the bill. Picture: Getty Images

By Naomi Bartram

A couple have sparked debate after leaving a restaurant without paying for their dinner.

A man has divided opinion after he got very frustrated with service at the restaurant he was eating in.

The anonymous Reddit user explained that his friend had recommended that he visited this particular eatery for an upcoming anniversary meal with his girlfriend.

But things didn’t go to plan when the food took more than an hour to show up.

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In the post, the anonymous man said: "I went to see her last weekend and to take her out for our one year anniversary.

A man has asked for advice after he recently walked out of a restaurant. Picture: Getty Images

"I wanted to take her somewhere nice so we went to a place my coworker recommended. I looked it up and it had great reviews for food and service."

Despite the restaurant not being very busy, the couple had to wait to be seated before they were faced by more service problems.

"It took a long time for the waiter to come for our order,” the post continued.

“I was trying to have a good time but I was hungry. We ordered straight off the menu. No substitutions or deletions. And then we waited. We had another drink.

"I asked the waiter about the food [and they said] 'It'll be right out'. I saw people that were seated after us get their meals. One hour after we sat. I had enough."

A man left a restaurant without paying for his food. Picture: Getty Images

The man then asked his girlfriend if she would feel okay if they left and she agreed they should go to a nearby steakhouse instead.

But just as they were walking away, the waiter spotted them and came over to ask what the problem was.

"I said that we had waited long enough and that we had other plans,” the man said, continuing: “So we left. We went to a chain steak restaurant and had a great meal."

When the man told the story to his co-worker who had recommended the restaurant, he was furious and said he should have paid for the food.

There were plenty of comments on the now-deleted post, with one person writing: “This is coming from a restaurant server.

“If you ordered appetisers and hadn’t seen them within an hour you have every right to leave.”

Another commented: "If a restaurant makes you wait an hour or more with no food at all then they deserve to be walked out on without payment."

Someone else said: "No one should expect to wait an hour for food and have others seated after you receive theirs. You paid for the drinks you consumed and that was good enough."

A third agreed: “Absolutely, there are dishes that take a long time to make but the servers inform you of that so you know what you are agreeing to.”