Welcome back to Shit People Steal, in which we ask restaurateurs what items in their restaurant have been (or are frequently) stolen.
Nate Pollak, co-owner of SoMa's popular grilled cheese restaurant The American writes in to tell Eater about the things that are most frequently stolen from his restaurant: toilet paper, salt and pepper shakers, bottles of Tapatio, and the dog water bowls from the patio outside.
"We haven't caught anyone in the act - but we definitely discover the theft at the end of the day during our daily inventory checks and stocking. There's always quite the hunt for patio seating on the weekends as we welcome (and love to host) dogs on our patio...We're not really sure what happened to the dog water bowl (it's been yanked twice). Maybe someone needed a new one for their house.
As for the Tapatio - people just can't get enough. Even for take out orders, customers will request portion cups, and they'll fill multiple cups just for their one sandwich! Perhaps the cups aren't enough, and someone just takes the whole bottle (or they're just not interested in buying a bottle from the grocery store)."
Because stealing is way more interesting than buying something, right?!? Kids these days!
Have a restaurant theft story? Email us at sf@eater.com
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The American's outdoor patio. [Photo: askmissa]
