To catch a thief ... restaurant pilferage ....

[lancastermike]

In my misspent youth tending bar we often brought in our own bottles, we also added water to vodka and gin and turned cheap liquor into expensive stuff by simply pouring it into another bottle.

Bar pilferage is the easiest to do and very profitable.

When I was drinking we carried a video game machine out of a bar, had more cue sticks than anyone needed and oceans of bar glasses. I can't remember how many advetising beer signs we had. I can remember having a friend of mine sitting on my shoulders to take a Budwiser clock he wanted.

In a place I worked they had an open kitchen with perhaps 20 cooper pots and pans hanging from hooks. They were real but they were there for display only. The Food and Beverage manager of this hotel took them home one at a time over a period of months. I also stood in the parking lot and watched him load cases of wine in his car. He was so drunk he never saw me. This place was in the midst of managment and ownership changes and just about everyone was taking stuff and no one seemed to be watching or to care. Several apartments were furnished from the hotel lobby.

Later when I went into managment I had a pretty good idea of what to watch for , but I knew what I was like and was sure they were getting me somehow. I love bartenders, I have wonderful friends from the old days, but it seems that something gripped us all. Everyone was up to something, some were greedy and they got ratted out by the others who did not want to see a good thing end.

[jschyun]

I expect restaurants to prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law if I stole something from them and I don't want to go to jail for a salt shaker. What's so great about salt shakers? How much salt are these people using anyway? I personally have no desire to clutter up my place with random crap in general though.

In college I actually had this shitty friend who would steal so much stuff anytime we went out: plates, glassware, you name it, and even I couldn't detect her doing it even though I was right there, that's how good she was. Stealing from restaurants was just one aspect of it, she was a completely awful person in general. She (Korean girl) married this poor Korean guy, whose grandmother gave her a wedding present of all that she had, $1000 so that the girl could use it for college expenses, as she had told his family she was going to go to pharmacy school. The girl divorced the guy after she squeezed him dry, and then used the money to party. Then she went on to date this Chinese-Am guy who became my roommate when she couldn't foot her part of their living expenses and she begged me to live with him while she stayed at home to save money. As it turns out, he was a really good guy and a quiet roommate; I got great grades that quarter. Then one day in the fall she came back to live with him and started watching tv every day in the living room while I was trying to study. I told the guy that I was going to move out if he didn't do something about her, but being weak-willed, and easily swayed by her sexual wiles, he ignored me. Several days later I found another apartment and never talked to her or him again.

I agree that stealing is stealing, but rich people that steal are especially despicable in my eyes. But perhaps that is how they became rich...assholes.

The thing about hotel room service ketchup and mustard bottles is that it's not really a big deal, because it's there for you to use, and you essentially paid for it with the meal, unlike when people steal the silverware, linens and glassware.

[Dani Mc]

When I was cocktailing my way through college, I often took lunch shifts at the small cafe attatched to the bar I was working at. Sometimes there would be a bartender working with me, and to keep ourselves amused, we used to harass the other restaurants on the street. One of them had a really quite ugly wax fruit arrangement thingy on a shelf over the host stand. The bartender went over to borrow limes or whatever, and came back with the fruit arrangement, which we then displayed above OUR host stand. A few days went by, and we kept thinking we should put it back, but wanted to see how long it would take them to miss it. One evening soon after, the owner of the other restaurant came for dinner on a busy friday night. He saw his missing fruit, and in front of the trendy friday night rush, hauled his ample person halfway onto the host stand to reclaim his beloved fruit display. We stole it a few times again after that, just to enjoy watching him become enraged and shouty when he'd come to reclaim it.

Theft, but not really, as we never intended to keep it for long.

[Devotay]

Several years ago when I was EC at a local hotel, we suspected a bartender of skimming the till, so we hired a PI to watch him. Turns out he was bringing in his own bottles of Jack and Absolut, pouring from them and pocketing the cash - never bothering to ring it up. We had the police come and handcuff him and haul him out in front of a lively Saturday night crowd.

Not so long ago, in my restaurant, we noticed that the morning and evening drawer counts weren't matching up. They were off by $15-$25 every other morning. We finally figured it had to be an employee keying in after hours. We called the police and asked them what to do, and they actually came and placed a hidden camera in a tea box with a little hole cut in it. The camera caught the culprit the very next night, and he had taken the twenty and the five that I had marked with little x's because I watch too many movies. Not only that, but when the cops busted him outside the restaurant, he was holding half an ounce of weed, too. Turns out it was a former employee who had swiped a spare key.

Mess with the bull, get the horns.

[culinary bear]

I actually just recently quit my job because I found out that the owners of the restaurant that I was the chef at was pilfering money that the servers were giving to the bussers and dishwashers.  When confronted, they said that the money was used to have holiday parties for the entire staff. A little different type of theft, for sure, but possibly the most dispicable kind.  These are people that really need that money. Not to mention, they do the hardest job in the restaurant....thanks for letting me vent. 

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Tronc skimming by the management is one of the most widespread, pernicious acts in this industry. When I leave my current position, the Inland Revenue (the UK IRS) are going to get a very long, very detailed letter, and I hope the hotel gets royally bummed.

[Sam Salmon]

2 quick comments.

Funniest thread I've ever read on this Forum!

I must live a very sheltered life

[howard88]

Very interesting topic.

Yet it seems that everyone contributing knows

someone who has pilered, stolen items from a

restaurant.

Really.

Know I do know people who have vast collections

of great napkins from restaurants around the world.

And yes they are friends of mine.

[Luckylies]

when I was but a young little peanut..my sweet mommy used to swipe merangue mushrooms in napkins for me after dinner at some fancy 80's restaurant...I also loved the sugar cubes from lutece (the ones with the roses) so I got those when she went out too...sometimes I swipe my petit fours for later in a napkin....mmm cab food. who could pass up tiny tiny little madelines? nobody I say, nobody!

I'm a shady crook

[Pan]

Those petits fours were part of your meal, weren't they? So it seems to me you were merely having them for takeout. I don't see the theft in that. The sugar cubes are a gray area, because they're really expected to be either used for coffee or tea or left for other customers. But if taking some off the proferred sugar cubes is the worst thing your mother did, she was pretty ethical. I really don't think any of that is comparable to stealing bar mugs, silverware, etc. The latter is truly and incontrovertibly theft.

[madziast]

once, at the Beard House in NYC, i saw a woman stop by a vacated but not yet cleared table on her way out. she helped herself to wine from an unfinished glass and staggered out with total nonchalance...

[Cusina]

This is a great thread... the submarine story is my hands down favorite. :) Talk about subversive. (bad pun, sorry)

Here are my two contributions. Mind you, I'm typically an upstanding citizen but...

In college I convinced my good friend Jill to swipe an adorable 1/2 pint mug from an ancient pub in London as a "souvenier". She put it in the "kangaroo" pocket of her jacket and then promptly forgot about it, until she put the jacket on and bashed herself in the head with the mug. Those things hurt a lot, I hear. I still have the mug and laugh every time I use it.

After a nice lunch with some friends and my 10 month old son I was folding the stroller up into the car when a lovely spoon from the restaurant came tumbling out. The little guy had swiped it from the table and stashed it without my noticing! I couldn't get him to confess but we did covertly return the spoon at our next visit. It was funny to sneak a spoon out of my purse and leave it on the table. Reverse theft.

[NulloModo]

once, at the Beard House in NYC, i saw a woman stop by a vacated but not yet cleared table on her way out.  she helped herself to wine from an unfinished glass and staggered out with total nonchalance... 

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That isn't really theft as much as scavenging, seeing as the wine would've just been trashed had she not downed it. Ethically, I don't see anything wrong with scavenging... it is probably just a bit impolite somewhere like the Beard House.

[flapjack willy]

Gosh, where do I start? Maybe with the father and son team I hired to wash dishes, not knowing that they had just arrived in the US via the Mariel boat lift that Jimmy Carter started. You know the time Castro emptied his prisions and mental hospitals. I have long since forgotten their names but now fondly remember the way they liked to steal food from my kitchen.

They would wait until we were really busy at which point they would trot back to the meat locker , grab pork chops( ignoring the beef tenderloin) and without any wrap, thrust them down into their groin area.

When caught, they would smile and ask if I would like them back.

I kept them around because nobody could or would wash dishes like they did.

More stories to follow.

[Gastro888]

my boyfriend has a collection of those little doodads you rest the chopstick tips on in asian restaurants

at first they were mostly polished stones but now i've noticed places getting really fancy with all sorts of cool little custom-made gizmos

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Oh c'mon. You could go to Chinatown and buy a bunch for cheap. My family owns a restaurant so I know how it is when ppl swipe stuff. Corporate chain-style restaurants aside, family owned joints run on tighter budgets.

If I ever caught anyone stealing tips from a waiter/busperson who worked hard for their money, I'll set it off.

And don't get me started on rich folk stealing. Boo.

[jschyun]

once, at the Beard House in NYC, i saw a woman stop by a vacated but not yet cleared table on her way out.  she helped herself to wine from an unfinished glass and staggered out with total nonchalance... 

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Well, I guess this isn't as much of an ethical issue since it's going to the trash anyway.

But am I the only one thinking that it's sort of ew gross? Was is really good wine or something?

[Gifted Gourmet]

But am I the only one thinking that it's sort of ew gross?  Was is really good wine or something?

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Certainly no more euwww than this from upthread:

They would wait until we were really busy at which point they would trot back to the meat locker , grab pork chops( ignoring the beef tenderloin) and without any wrap, thrust them down into their groin area.

When caught, they would smile and ask if I would like them back.

[jschyun]

But am I the only one thinking that it's sort of ew gross?  Was is really good wine or something?

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Certainly no more euwww than this from upthread:

They would wait until we were really busy at which point they would trot back to the meat locker , grab pork chops( ignoring the beef tenderloin) and without any wrap, thrust them down into their groin area.

When caught, they would smile and ask if I would like them back.

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ahahaha! That's true. Well, at least they plan on cooking them...hopefully.

[Gifted Gourmet]

And don't get me started on rich folk stealing.  Boo.

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If you want to read the article that gave rise to this thread, please go back to page one to see what got to me ... annoyed me as well, as you note here, on rich folk:

Fabulous clothes, a big old salary, a general sense of entitlement engendered by a glossy lifestyle and a spectacular expenses account: check, check and check again on the profile of your average flash restaurant accoutrement thief!

[FoodZealot]

This very well could be an urban legend, but I was told that one of the dorms at Stanford made off with the 7' tall purple Grimace from a McDonalds Playland. They brought it back to the dorm and were quite proud of it. A rival dorm got wind of it and posed as McDonald's employees coming to reclaim the Grimace, and were successful in retrieving it. I think it changed hands a few more times, but I don't remember the resolution, if there was one...

[pam claughton]

I worked for years at a seafood restaurant on the Cape that was not computerized. We filled out handwritten dupes that we turned into the kitchen to order our food. When the order came up, the dupe was spiked. There was a waitress who worked there for close to ten years who was scamming them the entire time. She was super friendly, baked cakes for everyone, especially the managers, so she was one of the 'favorites'. But then they caught on to her. She was always the one who one upped everyone, no matter what you said you made, even if it was your best night ever, she made more. So, people started wondering, and paying closer attention.

They finally caught her in the act, she had a great scam going. Whenever a party paid cash, she'd swipe their dupe off the spike and throw it out. So, there was no record of the order. She was pocketing an extra few hundred or more a night this way.

The restaurant is now computerized.

Edited January 6, 2005 by pam claughton (log)

[winesonoma]

This very well could be an urban legend, but I was told that one of the dorms at Stanford made off with the 7' tall purple Grimace from a McDonalds Playland.  They brought it back to the dorm and were quite proud of it.  A rival dorm got wind of it and posed as McDonald's employees coming to reclaim the Grimace, and were successful in retrieving it.  I think it changed hands a few more times, but I don't remember the resolution, if there was one...

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Sponge Bob get's swiped from Burger King. http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee.../printstory.jsp

[madziast]

once, at the Beard House in NYC, i saw a woman stop by a vacated but not yet cleared table on her way out.  she helped herself to wine from an unfinished glass and staggered out with total nonchalance... 

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Well, I guess this isn't as much of an ethical issue since it's going to the trash anyway.

But am I the only one thinking that it's sort of ew gross? Was is really good wine or something?

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Beard House usually doesn't serve "really good wine," at least not when i was there. it's usually good, rarely "really good." i think she just wanted more wine - nothing (and no one) would stop her... (the wine pours are not huge, mostly tasting size BUT there are many different wines). perhaps she just really liked the wine - one woman's plonk is another's Chateau Lafite??

it is kind of gross though, and possibly desperate

Edited January 7, 2005 by madziast (log)

[pidge]

This very well could be an urban legend, but I was told that one of the dorms at Stanford made off with the 7' tall purple Grimace from a McDonalds Playland.  They brought it back to the dorm and were quite proud of it.  A rival dorm got wind of it and posed as McDonald's employees coming to reclaim the Grimace, and were successful in retrieving it.  I think it changed hands a few more times, but I don't remember the resolution, if there was one...

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Sponge Bob get's swiped from Burger King. http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee.../printstory.jsp

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when i was a kid in pennsylvania, some guys stole the big boy from in front of bobs. unfortunately, he didn't quite fit in the trunk, so the cops found him, scuffed foot and all, by following the giant red smudge to one of the kids houses.....

[jschyun]

once, at the Beard House in NYC, i saw a woman stop by a vacated but not yet cleared table on her way out.  she helped herself to wine from an unfinished glass and staggered out with total nonchalance... 

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Well, I guess this isn't as much of an ethical issue since it's going to the trash anyway.

But am I the only one thinking that it's sort of ew gross? Was is really good wine or something?

←

Beard House usually doesn't serve "really good wine," at least not when i was there. it's usually good, rarely "really good." i think she just wanted more wine - nothing (and no one) would stop her... (the wine pours are not huge, mostly tasting size BUT there are many different wines). perhaps she just really liked the wine - one woman's plonk is another's Chateau Lafite??

it is kind of gross though, and possibly desperate

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After thinking about it, I realized my reaction to the woman taking a swig of someone else's wine was kind of sexist. I didn't really bat an eye about the guys shoving pork chops down their pants (esp after reading Tony Bourdain) and I only got affected by it when Gifted Gourmet pointed it out. Hmm.

[jamesaru]

When we would go out to lunch my old boss (executive level with a new Mercedes) would always ask for a cup for water and proceed to fill it with soda. I can't stand that!! I'm sure the restaurant wasn't out a bunch of money but it's the the principle of the whole thing.

Also, kind of a side note but I wonder if people will start stealing from the grocery store now that alot of them have the self checkout. I can see how someone would accidentally not ring up some nice rib-eyes. In fact I think I stole a half gallon of milk (didn't realize until I got home. The machine beeps and looks for weights and what not but you can pretty much bypass it.

-james