Walkerville restaurant victim of alleged dine-and-dashers

Concerns about a rise in the dine and dash A local restaurant had patrons dine and dash, some say the temptation to flee is heightened on patios. CTV Windsor's Chris Campbell reports.

Windsor, Ont. — A bad taste has been left in the mouths of staff at The Thirsty Butler sports bar in Walkerville where a weekend dine-and-dash robbed the wait staff of their bread and butter.

A bill worth $158 was left unpaid Sunday evening, when a table of 3 on the new outdoor patio decided to leave without paying.

“They just bolted away.”

Co-owner Jeff Bourque says it’s difficult enough to get patrons on a mid-August Sunday evening, let alone during a pandemic, telling CTV News it’s frustrating that anyone would dine and dash.

“It hurts. It definitely hurts,” says Bourque. “It’s part of doing business, there’s no doubt about it. Its happened to us in the past, but its usually when things are thriving and its a little easier to absorb.”

Bourque posted security images to social media in an effort to warn other restaurants and businesses of what happened, but doesn’t anticipate recouping any loss. “Just to show other restauranteurs in the area, to look out for them. To be aware in case it happens to someone else.”

Windsor police say its imperative business owners file police reports when such incidents occur. Constable Darius Goze says it could prevent similar situations from unfolding, adding dinning and dashing is a criminal offence. “How would we know that it’s the same person thats going from Red Lobster to Taco Bell to Pizza Pizza and just doing this because they think they can get away with it?” Const. Goze adds “If it’s not being reported, we wouldn’t know.”

When it comes to incidents of dining and dashing, Joe Monastero, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer with the Texas Restaurant Association says there has not been a significant increase of incidents reported throughout the industry since COVID restrictions loosened.

“They’ve been gut-punched more than once and currently are already working hard to try to get back to normal , whatever that looks like now.”

Monastero says after 18 months of lockdowns and business model changes, the temptation to dine and dash has increased with more outdoor patios being offered.

“A single cheque doing a dine and dash is a significant impact not only to the operator themselves but to that server who has completed their task of providing the services, delivering the food, making sure they had a good time.”

Monastero reiterates the importance of team work among staff and suggests brushing up on server basics. “Making sure that you have all your staff trained up again on watching your tables once you’ve dropped a cheque. Making sure all your staff, your runners, your bussers are all aware of what to look for and kind of scanning the room at all times and working together.