The restaurant franchise Karen’s Diner is known for having excellent cuisine but subpar service. One of the restaurant’s guiding principles is that body shaming and comments that are racist will not be accepted, however customers complained about unpleasant, impatient, and dismissive service from staff members.
Because of this, when a patron went to a restaurant in Brisbane to have a meal, he ended up getting upset with the staff after they made fun of his bald head.
Bec Hardgrave, a wellness coach in Queensland, recorded the outburst and posted it to TikTok.
@bechardgrave The guy at the end was sooo out of line! #karensdiner #restaurantreview #brisbane ♬ Sensual Seduction – Snoop Dogg
More than 2.5 million people have watched the video, and hundreds have liked and commented on it. However, reactions to the clip have been conflicting.
She said: “Me and my friends went to Karen’s diner and safe to say I probably won’t come back.”
“I know they get paid to be mean to you but it was a little too hectic. They were making offensive comments about people’s appearances and they told my friend she needed to brush her hair. How mean is that?”
“They told my other friend that she’s too old and they threw cups at us.”
“They got this group of older ladies to leave, like stand up and leave. They said to leave over the mic and they had an alarm blaring and the ladies actually got up and left, I’m not sure if they paid or not.”
“The food was OK but get this, they told this guy he had a receding hairline and this is what he did…”
The video then turns to a segment of a man yelling at the waitstaff at the restaurant.
The house regulations of the restaurant state: “Karen’s Diner is a unique, interactive dining experience but in order to maintain a shred of sanity here, we have some rules. Breaking these rules will result in your table being asked to pay the bill and leave the venue. You will also be banned from returning to the venue. We want both staff and customers to feel as safe as possible in our venues.”
No body shaming is the second principle on the list.
But the clip caused controversy among TikTok users.
One Tiktoker said: “You should all know the risks before entering. If you’re too soft, don’t eat there.”
Another stated: “Karen’s Diner needs to end, the whole thing is a mess. They break their own rules and boundaries and then act surprised when people are upset.”