Roni’s Mac Bar, a make-your-own mac-and-cheese bar, is a new popular staple in the college town of Waco, Texas. And the food establishment is gaining attention for its employees’ customer service, particularly as it pertains to some of its youngest customers.
In a recent TikTok video posted by the restaurant, an employee details how it appeared a customer ‘favored’ one of their kids over the other when building a mac-and-cheese bowl. The video has garnered more than two million views and 148,000 likes.
@ronismacbar What would you have done? #macandcheese #foodie #aita ♬ original sound – Roni’s Mac Bar
While assembling a mac and cheese bowl, an employee detailed how while serving a mother and her two young sons, the mother seemed to show favoritism to one brother.
“What would you have done in this situation,” the Roni’s Mac Bar worker asked.
“What struck me as strange though and maybe I was misreading this but, it seemed like she was favoring one child over the other,” they said.
The employee said the mother wouldn’t allow the other child to select specific toppings. Quickly thinking, the Roni’s Mac Bar worker made an extra mac bowl with the unfavored child’s favorite toppings and presented it to the family as an “extra bowl from someone that didn’t show up.”
Keeping the calm vibes and not threatening anyone’s parenting the macaroni bar worker asked viewers if they think he “overstepped.” The Daily Dot reached out for comment on Roni’s Mac Bar via email.
Viewers were thrilled in the comments of how sweet and considerate this Roni’s Mac Bar worker was to think of the other child.
“This was a creative and empathic way to handle that. Not overstepping at all,” commented a viewer.
Some viewers even reflected on their childhood experiences and how favoritism amongst siblings or family members is a huge and real issue.
“Growing up in a family that highly favored my older cousins over me with every chance…I’m sure you made that kid’s day,” shared another viewer.
“I assume mom knew the kid wouldn’t like the toppings [because you know] kids, but the fact you made the second bowl with the toppings and the kid still ate it says a lot,” said one viewer.
According to research by the American Survey Center, “One social psychologist noted that favoritism is more likely ‘when parents are under a great deal of stress (e.g., marital problems, financial worries). In these cases, parents may be unable to inhibit their true feelings or monitor how fair they’re behaving.’”
