A TikToker shared “a nightmare discovery” made in their booth while dining out at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, prompting others to share their own restaurant horror stories.
@smilesunshineco’s 16-second TikTok pulled in over 1.1 million views since being posted to the platform on Tuesday. It starts off with her panning from the disgusted look on her companion’s face over to the partial wooden wall bordering their booth.
As she zooms in towards a hole in the paneling, antennas poking out of it come into view, ultimately revealing two roaches watching them eat their food.
“CHECK PLEASE!” reads the text overlay on the video.
Do restaurants usually get roach infestations?
Roaches are attracted to food, so it’s not exactly a surprise when they wind up in restaurants. But there’s a marked difference between a stray bug here and there and a full-on infestation. And viewers were quick to warn that this looked like a sign of the latter.
“If they’re active like that with the lights on there’s likely an infestation right?” @queenofblahs asked in the comments.
“That’s putting it mildly,” @theyoopergirl replied. “That place is most likely bursting with them.”
“Yes. 100% if they are out during the day, and not running away from you, your [sic] doomed,” @krazyyant agreed.
“Leave! If you see them, they are in your food,” suggested @jalliephillips. “When I was a waitress, we had a roach problem and there was one in the soup and the head chef just told me to take it out and serve the soup.”
Not passing the vibe check
It isn’t immediately clear which Cheddar’s location @smileonsunshineco was dining at when she spotted these unwelcome table guests. But her discovery did prompt others to share their own similar stories.
“This happened to me at Texas Roadhouse – saw one, it disappeared, and then when I got home it fell off my shirt… which means it road home ON ME,” wrote @katelynnalura.
“Years ago we were eating inside a dark Pizza Hut…and while we waited for our pizza – we looked up and saw RATS walking along the rafters,” @jen7tiktok recalled. “Yeah, we left.”
@smilesunshineco gross things to see at a restaurant #waiting #nasty ♬ original sound – Artsy Smart
And even those who didn’t have stories to share made it clear they don’t even want to risk running into this kind of issue after everything they’ve seen or heard.
“I barely eat out now I trust none of these establishments,” @lifecoach_machele said.
“Kitchens are all filthy,” @azmikehike agreed. “I don’t care which restaurant you’re at.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @smileonsunshineco via TikTok comment and Cheddar’s parent company, Darden Restaurants, via email.
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