Diners praised for leaving before ordering because they couldn’t afford restaurant’s prices

‘No shame, baby, we’re poor and proud’

Some people have a rule when searching for a place to eat that they won’t go beyond a certain price range, but one group of diners had a different idea.

Daniel recently took to TikTok to share an experience he and his friend had with a restaurant that they thought was too expensive. “No shame, baby, we’re poor and proud,” he captioned his clip.

The video shows Daniel and his friend walking out of a restaurant as both of them explain why they are leaving.

“I’d just like to document this because I’m man enough to admit it,” he said. “We just walked into a restaurant that we couldn’t afford, so here we are leaving. And I’ll do it again – with our heads held high!”

“We’re going to the next restaurant, baby!” the TikTok ended.

Daniel’s video went on to receive over one million views, with many people turning to the comments to applaud the decision to leave instead of ordering and paying the restaurant’s prices.

“Ballers that know their budget, baby,” one commenter praised the two for leaving.

Another commenter agreed, writing, “Normalize this. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Well done! Too many people would’ve just stayed and gone into debt for a dinner just to save face,” a third commenter pointed out.

A few commenters suggested that restaurants should find ways to prevent this from happening.

“That’s why restaurants should post their menus outside. so you can gauge their range,” declared a user.

Even a server chimed in by mentioning that they appreciate customers that make decisions like these instead of complaining about the price to a manager or server.

“Y’all are my favorite type of customers… the ones that don’t complain to me as if i control the prices,” they wrote.

This isn’t the first time a server has taken to the platform. Recently, Syd, under the username @poorandhungry, took to TikTok to reenact a situation she had with a set of customers in a restaurant. “This happened at every brunch shift I’ve ever worked,” the TikToker captioned her video, indicating that it was a regular occurrence.

In the video, she was playing the role of both the customers and herself as she began to ask the group as a server if she could get them started with coffee or mimosas. “We brought our own coffees – I hope that’s fine,” the “customer” said, before asking Syd for “warm water.”

The server went on to explain that they were in a restaurant and couldn’t allow outside food and beverages. “Looks like you’re almost done with your coffee, so it’s whatever,” she said, visibly annoyed. “Maybe we can get started with some things that are on our menu.”

This time the customer replied saying that they brought their own granola bar and that they would only be sitting there for a “few minutes”.

Syd then asked if this meant they needed a few more minutes with the menu when the customer replied, “Wow, servers really have turned into salespeople nowadays. Yeah, we’ll just keep our money in our pockets.”

“This isn’t a public place. Will you be ordering from our restaurant?” the server asked.

When the customer refused to order, Syd accused her of trespassing.

“If you’re not planning on actually dining with us, may I ask why you’re here?” she asked. When the customer said that they were there to chat up a longtime friend, Syd gave them a 15-minute grace period before advising her to go to a nearby Starbucks.