Christopher Phillip Wallman Jr., owner of The Grill in Manning, South Carolina, continues to face backlash over a resurfaced video showing him confronting a Black couple who disputed their fried pork chop meals.
The viral, undated clip was filmed inside The Grill by the wife, who captured Wallman Jr. escalating a private dispute with the couple by announcing it to other customers in the restaurant.
Restaurant owner accuses Black couple of not paying their bill
He accused the couple of refusing to pay their bill.
“I want everybody to hear this now. This lovely couple has ordered $137 of food that they’re refusing to pay,” Wallman Jr. said in the video posted to TikTok.
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Wallman Jr. insinuated that the couple did not have the funds to cover their meal, but the wife said otherwise. She said they would not pay for the pork chops they never received, adding that her husband is a disabled veteran, and they both work and have the means to pay for their food.
‘I will not be bullied in my own restaurant’
The woman also mentioned that the pork chops that were initially served to them were fried too hard, which wasn’t their preferred style. While the waiter allegedly offered a replacement, the couple said they never received it. Wallman then turned to the couple, accusing them of bullying in his establishment.
“This is what I want from ya’ll,” Wallman began. “I will not be bullied inside my own restaurant for somebody to come in here and try to get free food of any kind. I want ya’ll to walk out of that door and don’t ever come back in this restaurant again.”
The woman agreed not to dine at the establishment again, but she and her husband continued to dispute the food items they never received, insisting they be removed from the bill.
The woman insisted that she and her husband dine out regularly
In a separate video, Wallman Jr. accused the couple of coming into the restaurant and complaining about the food items brought to their table.
“I’m sorry it wasn’t cooked right,” the woman said. “If we’re paying $140 we want our food cooked right, that’s all.”
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“So you’re telling me if I take them pork chops off, your bill is $120, you’re prepared to pay it right now and you’ll leave?” Wallman Jr. asked the couple in a subsequent clip.
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Wallman Jr. addresses backlash on social media
According to Google, The Grill holds a 3.9 rating with mixed reviews. While some patrons enjoy dining there, others have criticized the food as overpriced and overcooked and the owner and staff as unfriendly. Recent comments from a month ago echo similar sentiments, with accusations of rudeness and prejudice directed at the owner and staff. Yelp is much lower with a 1.5 rating, and the site notes: “This business is being monitored by Yelp’s Support team for content related to media reports.”
Earlier this week, Wallman Jr. responded to the backlash from the resurfaced clips in a Facebook post.
“To everyone that happens to see this from The Grill page. There is a video circulating again from when we first opened. I have said before. And I’ll say again for everyone new – I apologize for reacting to that couple the way I did. There are several circumstances that occur before she started filming that yall don’t see and that doesn’t excuse my reaction at all but that does explain why it happened. It has nothing to do with race, color, creed, religion, nothing. To add – they were dissatisfied, doesn’t really matter why but it wasn’t handled correctly,” he wrote.
Facebook users calls out the owner after social media apology
Wallman Jr.’s behavior toward the couple has since gone viral, and Facebook users continue to criticize him in response to his recent post.
“How ever they acted doesn’t matter you still charged them for something y’all took back. You went out YOUR way to degrade them. As a owner you shouldn’t get personal with your customers. Weirdo take accountability cry baby,” one social media user wrote.
“Yeah, you blew it. You don’t want them to ever come back? You won’t have that problem from me. I’ll never step foot in your place,” another wrote.
“Did you apologize to her and her husband? The same way you built an audience to try to embarrass them you owe them a public apology, face-to-face. Your comments were so ignorant and unnecessary,” a third person wrote.
