Lately, it seems like people are willing to do anything — including serve jail time — over food. Earlier this month, a Florida man was arrested for trying to pay for his McDonald's meal with pot. This week, two cooks were put behind bars for intentionally contaminating a police chief's food. Now, a man has been arrested for letting his girlfriend eat off his buffet plate while refusing to pay for two meals.
On Oct. 21, Dan Linscomb and his girlfriend dined at the Iron Skillet restaurant in Atlanta. While he admitted in a police report that his girlfriend "ate a couple bites from his plate," Linscomb defended his position, saying, "there were no signs in the restaurant that said someone could not have some food off your plate." The restaurant staff called local police, who arrested Linscomb on theft. Two days later, he was released after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
In today's tough times, should restaurants charge both parties regardless of how much they eat, or do establishments need to go easy on customers like Linscomb, who may simply be trying to scrape by? Have you ever eaten "two-for-one" at a buffet before?






All Saints
That is ridiculous! I've always 'had a few bites' off of others plates even when I have my own. I also generally share an entree with one of my family members.
1Okay, if she just had a couple bites, like she wanted a taste of something on his plate, then I don't see a problem with it. But if you literally can't afford two buffet meals, don't go out to eat. I get that a lot of people are trying to scrape by, myself included, but really? I don't know that he deserved to be arrested, but sharing a buffet meal because you don't want to pay for two is just tacky.
2wow. don't the police have better things to do? but seriously, if it's over a couple of bites, that's just a waste of police resources.
3I've gone out to a family dinner at a buffet for my grandmothers birthday, and only had a few bites from my dads plate since i had a dinner date later that night and wanted to enjoy the food there, and we didnt have to pay the full price for me. something like that is okay, and sometimes if i have already eaten dinner but go hang out with friends at a buffet i also dont have to pay even if i happen to have an eggroll or chicken wing or something. but i wouldnt go and do the 2 for 1 deal...thats not quite right.
4I think about this sometimes when I'm out with my husband and he gets a fountain soda and I don't - because I know I can only do about two sips of it. So I might have a sip or so of his, and I often wonder if this is considered "stealing", even though we almost never get refills. I always kind of feel bad about it. Not bad enough to pay $2 or whatever for my own though
5An arrest sounds pretty extreme. I used to work at a restaurant that charged an extra $3 if people wanted to split an entree, but I never would've worried about a couple of shared bites. It just seems silly.
6An arrest? That's crazy even if they were sharing the whole meal. Granted, I wasn't there and maybe there were harsh words or some aggressive behaviour but otherwise I don't understand it.
7i'm sure it was just a few bites. absolutely positive. and that ziploc bag in her purse? don't worry about it.
8Of course there could be more to the story, but just based on this... Seems really over the top to arrest the guy because his girlfriend had a few bites off his plate. I've asked to pay for an extra dish when my daughter was small because she would only eat a few bites, and I hate wasting food. Most of the time the restaurants didn't mind and didn't charge me. Also seems like really bad PR for the restaurant.
9I did in high school when I was with friends. But I certainly wouldn't do that now. I think if it's a few bites that an arrest is a little extreme. But we don't know what words were exchanged that could have made it worse and warranted the arrest either.
10here's my question - did she order her own meal, or did she just get a drink and ate off his plate? i think that i've done that before - my fiance has gotten the buffet, but i've always ordered something else and then maybe had a taste or a few bites from his plate. i can't imagine that being reason enough to go to jail.....
i did it to save money - i'll admit it cause i don't see the point in paying $20 for a meal when i KNOW that i'm not going to eat that much.
11The problem here is that this was a BUFFET. You're paying for *access* to all of the food, because they're not regulating how much you're eating. If you don't pay for *access* to the food, you don't get to eat it. Even if it *is* a couple of bites.
While an arrest was pretty extreme, he wasn't in the right either. He should have just paid [or made *her* pay, she wanted to eat!] the other $7 buffet ticket.
The only buffet-style restaurant I eat at is Sweet Tomatoes. There's a sign at the cashier: "Sorry, no sharing" [company policy]. If more buffets did this, there wouldn't be a question.
If you want to share food, go to a place that's not open buffet-style. After the food is on your plate there, it's your business what you do with it.
12He wasn't in the right by not paying for two plates, but arrested...come on now. We need those jail/prison spaces for real criminals.
13Isn't the Iron Skillet a restaurant in truck stops?
You would think that the people working there wouldn't have the energy to care about these things.
14She must have had more than a few bites. I'm picturing him piling his plate high with food and then grabbing TWO forks--so his sweetie could have "a few bites" without getting her own plate.
I usually accompany my boyfriend to restaurants that I would never patronize on my own (Hooters, specifically) but grab a few bites from his plate just so I don't look like a weirdo staring at him while he eats. He orders the huge wing plate, I eat the side celery and carrot sticks.
I don't feel like this is "stealing" since I order a drink or two while I'm there...they get more money than if he ate alone. Plus, everything that comes on his plate is at a fixed cost whereas a buffet isn't (although, thinking about it, if they offered a celery/carrot sticks combo plate I would totally order it!!)
15come on....that's so pathetic that they arrested him for that. Sure it's cheap but it's not worthy of a criminal record for goodness sakes. I would never do this but I think the guy's right in defending that there were no signs posted that he couldn't do it. Bless his cheap little heart.
16laaame..on all sides. it certainly seems more than a little extreme to call the police, but I'm betting there was something else going on since he ended up getting charged with disorderly conduct.But it's also lame to try and get away with something like that, if that's indeed what they were doing! I bet he wishes he paid for that other damn buffet plate after spending two days in jail!
17if he was arrested for disorderly conduct, I am SURE that he made a ruckus and then some about the staff telling him a)that his gf couldnt eat off the plate or b) the staff trying to charge him for two buffets. You arent going to get arrested just from sharing a plate!
I once went to a buffet with a friend, wasnt hungry, mid way through I got hungry but was too lazy to get up and pay, so I ate some off of his plate, The waitress came over and said "excuse me there is no sharing, i would be glad to ring you up for a buffet!" and She did....I could have been all "I was only tasting" and have it escalate from there. .....
18On another note, I had two coworkers (big girls) who were actually KICKED out of a chinese buffet for eating TOO MUCH!!!
19CG, that's too funny. I thought that only happened in stand-up comedy stories. lol
20Yeah, it's a buffet. You pay to play. They got busted cheating the system and should have paid.
21To call in the police? serious overkill.
Sounds like there is much more to the story.
I would love to know how much the restaurant spent on the lawyer to "prove their point".
22ridiculous!
23A rule is a rule, but c'mon. Couldn't the staff have given him a warning before calling the police? If they did and his resulting actions prompted the call to police then I could see it. If they called without advising him of the rule first, I think that's a waste of police time.
24There has got to be more to this story than just this! An ARREST for letting someone eat a couple of bites? Implausible.
25A bit extreme...
26I don't care if she was eating an entire meal off his plate. I don't care if it was the last lobster meal on a tray. I don't care if she was eating the last damn dodo. Arresting someone for a very old buffet trick, the 2 for 1 plate, is extreme and frankly, stupid.
We waste time and taxpayer money for something like this. A slap on the wrist, maybe ban him from the restaurant in the future, but are you kidding? Putting a man in jail and prosecuting him over this? Please.
And let me clarify, you damn right I would do the same thing with my fiancee. Buffets at Vegas sometimes go for 34.95 a PLATE. Kiss my ass if you think I will pay that overpriced amount more than once.
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