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What would you do if you found out a restaurant had thrown out all your items in the trash, while you were in the bathroom?
That was a reality one diner at Silk City faced this week. The mother and daughter came back to their table to find a restaurant employee had thrown away their belongings, including a jacket, wallet, car keys and stuffed animals.
“Never in my life have I been treated like that,” the diner said, posting her experience on TikTok.
“We come back to the table. Nothing’s on the table. The table is completely empty. Not her stuffed animals. Not my jacket. Not my wallet. Not my car keys.”
The woman said she went to the bartender, who she described as “John, blonde hair, male — male presenting,” to ask about where her items had gone. He informed her “Oh, they may have gone in the trash.”
According to the video, John went to the trash and began to dig out her items, which she showed were covered with food remnants, such as teriyaki sauce.
The woman asked to speak to a manager, and was told that the owner was present. However, the owner did not talk with the woman. Instead, a different manager came out and told her that he’d address the bartender and “take care of him.” Still, her interactions with the bartender continued.
“At that point, John, blonde bartender, comes back and proceeds to go back and forth with me,” the woman said. “‘You should be more conscious about what you leave at the table. Seventy-five percent of my job is throwing stuff out.’ I was in the bathroom for three minutes. Why are you throwing my stuff in the trash?”
The woman appeared visibly shaken by the exchange.
“Why are you throwing my stuff in the trash?,” she said. “Why are you wiping down a dirty table with my child’s stuffed animals? It makes no sense. It was deliberate. It was rude. It was not hospitable at all.”
The woman said she is a regular customer and called the level of mistreatment she received “ridiculous.”
“I cried because this is crazy,” she said. “I’ve never been treated like this in my life, and with no kind of explanation, no reasoning, like I’m still so confused as to why you would do that to somebody. Who treats people like that?”
Billy Penn reached out to Silk City’s general manager, Joe Ferrone, who pointed to the diner’s social media statement for an official response.
”We are aware of the situation that occurred last night between a member of our staff and a customer,” the diner said on Instagram. “We want you to know that we are taking this seriously. What happened is unacceptable and does not reflect the values, standards, or community that Silk City stands for. We sincerely apologize to anyone who has been hurt, disappointed, or affected by this situation.”
The statement noted that the employee responsible for the incident is no longer working at the diner.
“Silk City has always been about bringing people together through music, food, and community,” the post continued. “We know that words alone are not enough. We understand that rebuilding trust takes accountability and action.”
“We are truly sorry, and we appreciate the opportunity to address this and move forward in the right way.”
