In a viral TikTok, user Philiana (@philana) shared her frustrating experience with a New York City restaurant’s no-show policy. The video, posted on Jan. 6, has already racked up over 415,600 views.
The video begins with a stitched clip from @meliimelons, a TikTok creator who previously complained about the same restaurant demanding a $100 fee to cancel a reservation. “New York City restaurants have absolutely lost their minds,” she says.
Philiana then shares her own story. “Yeah. So I think I know what restaurant you’re talking about,” she begins. She explains that she arrived at the restaurant, which she jokingly refers to as “Fridays,” only to find out that her friend couldn’t make it. Despite this, she decided to stay and enjoy the meal by herself.
However, before she could place her order, the waiter informed her that she would be charged a $50 fee because her friend did not show up. “I’m like, what?” she says in the video. She checked the app where she made the reservation, which stated that a $50 charge per person would be applied for cancellations. But she hadn’t canceled; her friend just couldn’t make it.
When she questioned the waiter about the charge, he simply replied, “It’s just our policy.” Despite her frustration, Philiana offered to order the full spread of food that she and her friend had originally intended to order, acknowledging that the restaurant was a smaller business. But the waiter insisted that the $50 fee would still apply.
@_philana_ #stitch with @Melissa and Rachel #nyc #brooklyn #nycrestaurants #brooklynrestaurants ♬ original sound – Philana
“I’m telling you that we were going to spend approximately $170 after tip. Like, even if this person showed up. So I’m telling you, I will literally just spend that because I know you’re a smaller business,” she says. But the restaurant wouldn’t budge.
Frustrated, Philiana proposed a solution. “So at this point, like, I should just call anyone, like any of my friends to just show up, and then I won’t get charged this $50 fee. And I can just have them leave,” she says in the video, highlighting the absurdity of the situation.
The response prompted the waiter to consult with management. After a brief wait, he returned to Philiana with a change of heart. “OK, well, we’ll let it slide this time,” he allegedly said, waiving the $50 no-show fee for her friend.
The video sparked a wave of comments from viewers, with one saying, “The way I would have ordered only a water and took 2 hours to drink it… 2 can play those games.”
“I would immediately lock the card I put on file,” another commenter advised.
A third chimed in, “I honestly wouldn’t leave a tip and say refer to $50 charge for your tip on the receipt.”
Despite the unpleasant experience, Philiana says she finished her meal and left an “adequate” tip. But she also added she made sure to warn her foodie friends to avoid the restaurant in the future. “I was just like, wow, that’s definitely not OK. But yeah, cheers to Fridays,” she concludes.
The Daily Dot reached out to Philiana via TikTok direct messages for comment.
