‘The entire staff has barricaded us inside’: Longhorn Steakhouse customers say workers wouldn’t let them leave after seating them
You've experienced it. That moment when you sit down at a restaurant, realize you don't want to eat there, and awkwardly get up to leave. Well, when one TikTok duo tried to pull this move, the staff allegedly refused to let them go.
In a viral video, Syd (@sydstallings) is seen filming from the bathroom of a Longhorn Steakhouse in Mobile, Alabama.
She explains that she went into the restaurant with her friend (who we get a glimpse of in the video) but wanted to leave immediately after sitting down because it "was a [sh*thole]."
"But the waitress caught us both getting up," Syd says in the clip.
Panicked by being spotted trying to leave, they lied to their server and said they were just looking for the bathroom and went in there to play things off.
"Now the entire staff has barricaded us inside and won't let us out," Syd claims.
In the video, she's seen shaking her fist in a strange way and acting out a meltdown with her mouth wide open and arm over her face. Her friend is seen in the corner of the shot, trying not to laugh.
"It's your girl in the back trying to keep a straight face for me," a commenter wrote.
The dramatic expressions combined with the lack of believability that a restaurant would be so desperate for customers that they'd lock them in the bathroom leads us to believe that this is just a joke—but viewers don't really get a punchline.
@sydstallings #longhornsteakhouse ♬ NO SURPRISES - isaac
The video has more than 350,000 views, and the caption calls the fast-casual steak chain a "0/10 rec."
Commenters were split about the video, with some of them seemingly believing Syd.
"If they truly barricaded them that's unlawful imprisonment and they can press charges against the restaurant," a top comment said.
"They can’t do anything as long as you aren’t trying to not pay for something you got lol. Just leave?" a person wrote.
"Girl just walk out it’s not hard," a viewer urged.
Others were in on Syd's trolling.
"Lol restaurant workers dont give af if you leave or not before ordering anything," a commenter pointed out.
Syd even changed her TikTok bio to continue the joke.
"Still trapped in the longhorn steakhouse women’s restroom," her bio now reads.
As clear from Syd's video, Longhorn Steakhouse is a restaurant that draws mixed reactions. One former employee who worked there as a teenager shared that she'd actually miss her job now that she's off to college since she made some of her best friends there. On the other hand, a customer praised the chain for having an affordable, $9 to-go dinner option that was actually filling.
The Daily Dot reached out to Syd for comment via TikTok direct message.
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