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AIBU?

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Original poster

Asked not to eat food from elsewhere

274 replies

moogoom · 18/07/2018 21:30

In an independent burger bar tucked away in the corner. It is 7:30 and just finished some shopping with kids in tow. DD has decided burgers are another thing she cant eat anymore so we quickly called next door for a kids sandwich and popped back to previous tucked away seat. The owner comes along and tells me to ask my daughter to put the sandwich away if we are eating in. But loudly so the customers can hear, which they all did. So would you call this pernickety behaviour or her prerogative?

OP posts:
AlonsosLeftPinky · 21/07/2018 06:45

I don't believe even for a fleeting second that the owner was rude, given the recurring tone of comments from the OP.

I can't for the life of me understand why you'd firstly pander to one child by taking the family to a restaurant that not everyone could eat at, and then pander to the other child by fetching them a subway.

Why not just go somewhere with a more varied menu??

Either way, it's very rude to just take in food from another establishment.

MidniteScribbler · 21/07/2018 06:59

Based on the nature of the OP's posting style, I'm willing to bet she was incredibly rude to the owner, which may have contributed to her being kicked out on her arse.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 07:03

Just a simple no frills burger bar

That isn't yours. It belongs to the proprietor. The proprietor has a rule that only food bought there can be eaten there, and told you. If you don't like it, don't go again.

You sound dreadful.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 07:04

And restaurants aren’t entitled to people’s business. There’s plenty of less arsey restaurants OP can go to.

And should.

BertrandRussell · 21/07/2018 07:27

If she had been 2 then I would have agreed with you. But 9? Absolutely not.

PrincessPear · 21/07/2018 08:51

And should.

I agree. They deserve her custom far more than this one.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 08:52

PrincessPear

Why? What did they do that was so wrong?

😂

PrincessPear · 21/07/2018 08:57

The majority of people were eating food from there. They had no reason to moan about one person who wasn’t. It’s not like she’d eat food from the restaurant anyway.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 08:59

PrincessPear

No, I meant the poor buggers to whom she might transfer her custom!

Of course she did something wrong. It's their establishment, not hers. They set the conditions of trade. She decides whether or not to eat there. Obviously by telling her not to do X in their restaurant, they have accounted for the fact that she might not return, and they don't mind!

MuffinMad · 21/07/2018 08:59

I worked in a small cafe many years ago.
A young man came in and ordered a cup of coffee.
He sat down and pulled out a pre bought sandwich.

I had to approach him and tell him the same, that he couldn't eat the sandwich here.

What he did then was took a sip of his coffee, then got up and went outside and took a bite of his sandwich and then came back in.

This continued until his sandwich was eaten and the coffee was gone.

I always smile when I think of it. 😊

mn101 · 21/07/2018 09:00

@MidniteScribbler this !!!

My friend is a police officer. There is an unofficial test in the police called the 'attitude test'. When a suspect is picked up for a minor infringement - the way they act/talk to an officer can make a big difference on what happens next!!! The cafe owner may have used a similar technique. Had the OP - delicately asked if it would be okay, perhaps they might of turned a blind eye, but by just assuming it was it understandably got the cafe owners back up that she was consuming food from a competitor on their property!

Cousinit · 21/07/2018 09:05

As you were eating food and drinks from the cafe of course YANBU. I also have a picky eater around the age of your DD and have done similar in the past. Stupid rude woman has now lost returning customers.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 09:09

Stupid rude woman has now lost returning customers

Which is entirely up to her. I don't understand why some people seem to imagine the loss of their business to be some sort of mistake the cafe owner is going to be desperate to remedy. If it was commercially sensible to allow people to eat food bought off the premises in the restaurant, don't you think the restaurant owner would do that? Clearly, they find enforcing this rule to be the more profitable option. Or, they don't care that much about their profit margins and prefer to enforce the rule for some other reason. Either way, if losing the OP's business wasn't an acceptable cost, the woman wouldn't have said anything.

Passonthemessage · 21/07/2018 09:22

Either way, if losing the OP's business wasn't an acceptable cost, the woman wouldn't have said anything. If the decision on the manner in which the cafe owner addressed the issue was taken rationally then maybe but I suspect the decision was taken in anger without consideration for the outcome.

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 09:26

Passonthemessage

Hardly likely, if that is the policy of the restaurant. This will have happened hundreds of times.

Passonthemessage · 21/07/2018 09:34

@Pengggwn It's hardly likely to be the policy that you speak to your customers in a way to humiliate them. Of course it may be policy that you ask them to stop eating food from another establishment but you hopefully have enough bloody business acumen to do this with as little fuss and drama as possible. Just because your customer is rude doesn't mean the cafe owner should be rude and if that's the policy, it's a bloody odd one.

PolkerrisBeach · 21/07/2018 09:39

I'm really shocked that anyone would think this is OK.

It doesn't matter where you were sitting, how many other people are in the restaurant or anything else. You just don't do it.

wafflyversatile · 21/07/2018 09:40

@Muffinmad that's brilliant Grin

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 09:43

Passonthemessage

Drama? Did the proprietor don a powdered wig and ring the town bell? I thought she just told her Confused

PrincessPear · 21/07/2018 09:45

It doesn't matter where you were sitting, how many other people are in the restaurant or anything else. You just don't do it.

Why?

SoupDragon · 21/07/2018 09:50

but you hopefully have enough bloody business acumen to do this with as little fuss and drama as possible

There was no fuss or drama. The owner asked the OP to tell her daughter to stop eating the sandwich. I don’t think he got out a fog horn or loudspeaker to announce it. The other customers happened to be able to hear which is hardly unlikely.

Cousinit · 21/07/2018 09:55

How do you know there was no fuss or drama, Soupdragon? Were you there as well?!

SoapOnARoap · 21/07/2018 09:55

He’s the owner of a restaurant, not a registered charity.

I think you were being incredibly entitled

Pengggwn · 21/07/2018 09:57

Cousini

The OP didn't say there was any fuss. I'm sure if the owner had made a fuss, she would have said.

Cousinit · 21/07/2018 09:58

Anyway, to answer your original question OP, I think they were both: it was their prerogative to turn you away but IMO also pernickety.

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