Meath chef slams the restaurant runners who leave without paying the bill

Leah Doherty

A chef from Meath has spoken out about 'restaurant runners' who leave without paying the bill and how on some occasions employers will make the server pay for the compensation.

Writing in his Meade's Menu food column, Gerry Meade said: “There was some news lately of restaurant staff having to compensate their employers for customers they had served who after eating and drinking generously, they sneakily decided to do a runner and make off without paying.

“You really have to be a certain type of bad rotten apple to break the trust that is agreed upon when you sit down at a restaurant table.”

The chef also commented on his first-hand experience of restaurant runners: “I only had a couple of incidents when it happened where one of the diners went to the loo then straight to their vehicle in the car park afterwards when no was looking and waited for the other with the engine presumably running.

“The other one then politely asked for the bill and then told the server would they wait a few minutes while they went to fetch their wallet in their car and that was the last we saw of them after eating a fine dining meal for two.”

The chef added that despite the illegality of it, some employers will still take the money from the staff’s tips to cover the cost.

A Meath-based industry source told the Meath Chronicle that their former employer would take the money out of their tips at the end of the day to make up for the lost sales revenue if a table was left unpaid and says it is a common practice amongst other restaurant businesses.

“It is the same as not paying for petrol or a customer going into a shop and walking out with goods not paid for so it’s actually a police matter that should be reported,” the chef added.

A local restaurant business told the Meath Chronicle that restaurant runners have rarely been an issue for them but blasted businesses that force their staff to compensate for customers leaving without paying.