NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida restaurant owner is speaking out, one day after cameras caught two of her customers taking off without paying their dinner bill.
Cecelia Texiera, the owner of Bovinos Steakhouse in North Miami Beach, said the well-dressed diners were not light eaters. “They each had a lot,” she said.
Crisp surveillance video of the couple enjoying their President’s Day meal backs up Texiera’s claim. The man and woman are seen indulging their voracious appetite, first ordering piña coladas, then moving on to caesar salads, codfish and, naturally, a sizzling steak.
Before his early dinner was served, the male customer is seen asking the chef about the different cuts of steak and even checking out the buffet.
After enjoying chocolate desserts, Texiera said, the customers ordered coffee, but this was one java fix that was not to be.
“When the waitress came inside, he told her that he was going to his car to pick up his cigar, OK? And they left,” said Texiera.
The footage shows several servers running outside, but by then, the couple was long gone. “[They wondered], ‘Where are they?’ Because they thought that the woman went to the car also to pick up something, but they never imagined that they were going to leave,” said Texiera. “They thought they were going to come back to pay the bill.”
But the couple had sneaked away. They are seen walking away in different directions, their bellies and wallets full.
The bill, Texiera said, was close to $100. “We work hard for this money, and I don’t want people to come here eating for free and leaving,” she said.
Texiera said she’s fed up with such indecorous etiquette, and she is not going to let this go. “I worked the whole weekend. I worked during the holidays, and I left like 20 minutes before they arrived, OK? To stay with my two sons,” she said. “I was like, ‘I just left and something happens?'”
If you have any information on these diners’ whereabouts, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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