A teen and his grandparents were kicked out of Karen’s Diner after he called the waitress a ‘fat s**g’ because she called him a ‘p***y’.
Jack Keith, 17, and his grandparents visited the Manchester branch of the so-called ‘UK's rudest restaurant' on Friday March 17 but were booted out just 10 minutes later. You can see how the incident played out here:
In footage, the teen calls the server a ‘w***e’ under his breath, prompting her to tell him 'not to mumble it because you're a p***y'; Jack then says it a little louder and she responds by telling him 'you can't pronunciate [sic], that's embarrassing'.
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At this point, Jack asks: “How old are you, you fat s**g?” In the background a member of their group can be heard warning: "You can get kicked out for that."
The server then tells another member of staff, and comes back over to the table to tell the family: “You're out, all of you, it's in the rules. He's ruined it.”
Jack and his family were told to pay the £25 drinks bill and leave because rules given to customers upon entry tells them the banter between customers and servers doesn't extend to 'body shaming'.
Jack, from Ulverston, Cumbria, said: "I agree that if you can't take it don't give it.
"I was shocked when she told us we had to leave. We thought they'd tell us to pay for the drinks then to sit back down.
"She brought it on herself really because I wasn't going to say anything after she said about my pronunciation.
"I'm not going to say something then not be able to take it and start crying about it. I'd take it on the chin, have just laughed about it and say something back.
"It was just in the moment and that came to my head so I thought I'd throw that at her. I understand that they think it's against the rules.
"It said 'no body shaming' but I couldn't think of anything [my insult] would have come under because she wasn't fat. She was your average female build so I don't know why she took it to heart.
"We didn't have time to read the rules. They just threw them at us and it was a really loud atmosphere. There was a lot going on.
"Some of the insults they gave to my grandparents were pretty next-level. Karen's Diner is a crazy idea and I probably wouldn't go back."
A spokesman for Karen's Diner said: "[In response] to the allegation that Karen’s staff can 'give it, but not take it'.
"If the 'Take it' referred to is simple 'body abuse', then the statement is quite correct.
"Karen's Diners will not condone seriously offensive abuse either 'given' (which can be grounds for dismissal as all our staff are obliged to work within strict behavioural guidelines) or 'take it' as we will always take every stance to protect our staff from unacceptable behaviour.
"It is sad that a minority of customers need reminding as to how to behave.
"We have no choice but to cater for this minority and accept that it is always possible that they struggle to understand how to click onto the front bar of our website ('rules'), and perhaps struggle to read the cards ('House rules') handed to them on arrival, which state specifically what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour.
"Sadly we are unable to personally explain to every customer that calling a waitress a 'fat s**g' is very directly 'body shaming' and that is why we hand out the House Rule cards.
"I accept that there is a distinct possibility that some people perhaps need an explanation as to the meaning of 'body shaming!'
"Perhaps this is what they mean when they say 'It needs to be made clearer!?'
"We spend days teaching our staff how to be rude and funny. Offending anyone is never funny.
"When you trawl through the thousands of video clips showing customers enjoying Karen's dining experience, it will take you some time to find other clips with content similar to the sour clip presented.
"We have loved being rude to over 50,000 people in Manchester and we thank 99% of them for being such fun."
Topics: UK News, Food And Drink
Claire Reid