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Man Tries To Humiliate Bi-Racial Couple Over Bill—Now His Restaurant’s Reputation Is Ruined
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Man Tries To Humiliate Bi-Racial Couple Over Bill—Now His Restaurant’s Reputation Is Ruined

A South Carolina restaurant owner is facing intense public backlash after a viral video captured him publicly berating a couple who disputed a menu item—despite ultimately paying their bill in full.

Christopher Phipil Wallman Jr., owner of The Grill in South Carolina, thought his customers, a bi-racial couple, were refusing to pay their $137 tab, and instead of resolving the matter privately, he instead raised his voice hoping to make an example out of them.

Highlights
  • A South Carolina restaurant owner publicly shamed a bi-racial couple over a $137 bill.
  • The owner's outburst went viral, triggering accusations of racism and a flood of negative reviews that forced Yelp to shut down the restaurant’s page temporarily.
  • Internet fury spilled over to an unrelated restaurant with a similar name, leaving innocent staff to fend off harassing calls and online attacks.

“I want everybody to hear this now,” Wallman Jr. declared. “This lovely couple $137 worth of food for the 35 minutes they’ve been here and they are refusing to pay.”

The husband, remaining calm, explained that they were only objecting to being charged for the pork chops, which had been overcooked and sent back. Despite never receiving a replacement, the item still appeared on their bill.

RELATED:

    Restaurant owner’s attempt to publicly shame his customers backfires after incident goes viral

    Image credits: ghettogaragebuildz

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    “Just like anything else you don’t receive, you wouldn’t pay for it, right?” the husband explained, with his wife adding that they were fully prepared to pay the rest of the bill and were not trying to avoid payment.

    “We’ve got plenty of money,” she said. “We said we are refusing to pay for the pork chops we never got.”

    Image credits: Christopher Philip Wallman Jr./Facebook

    Instead of listening to his customers, the owner opted instead to escalate the confrontation, stating that he would “not be bullied in his own restaurant,” and instructing the couple to “walk out the door and don’t ever come to his restaurant again.”

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    Eventually—and seeing that his outburst was starting to make the rest of the customers uncomfortable—the owner relented and removed the pork chops from the bill, reducing the total to $122.92. 

    The couple paid without further incident, putting an end to the situation. But for the restaurant, the problems were only beginning.

    Netizens organized a cancellation campaign, flooding review sites with negative customer scores

    @ghettogaragebuildz#southcarolinacheck#resturantlife#foryou#fyp#foryoupage♬ original sound – Ghettogaragetv

    In the days following the incident going viral online, the owner, Wallman Jr., has faced constant criticism and harassment. Besides people being generally annoyed by his outburst, some have accused him of being racist due to the couple being bi-racial, with the husband being an African American.

    Image credits: ghettogaragebuildz

    Netizens took to customer review platforms such as Yelp to destroy the restaurant’s reputation, uploading a large number of negative scores, which caused the platform to suspend the option.

    @ghettogaragebuildz#southcarolinacheck#resturantlife#foryou#fyp#foryoupage♬ original sound – Ghettogaragetv

    “This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page,” a Yelp notice read. “We have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content.”

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    In response to the backlash, Wallman Jr. issued an apology on Facebook. He clarified that the incident took place approximately six months ago, soon after the restaurant first opened. He also explained the situation as a “misunderstanding.”

    @ghettogaragebuildz#southcarolinacheck#resturantlife#foryou#fyp#foryoupage♬ original sound – Ghettogaragetv

    “I apologize for reacting to that couple the way I did,” he wrote. “There are several circumstances that occurred before she started filming that y’all don’t see. That doesn’t excuse my reaction at all, but it does explain why it happened.”

    “It has nothing to do with race.”

    Outrage spilled into unrelated restaurants, as netizens mistakenly targeted similarly named establishments

    Image credits: ghettogaragebuildz

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    The internet increased the intensity of the outrage to the point where it began spilling into other, unrelated, businesses.

    @ghettogaragebuildz#southcarolinacheck#resturantlife#foryou#fyp#foryoupage♬ original sound – Ghettogaragetv

    For instance, some users mistakenly targeted a restaurant with a similar name, destroying its reputation along the way. The Mill Street Grill in Staunton, Virginia started receiving harassing phone calls and got its social media presence flooded with negative reviews.

    Image credits: Christopher Philip Wallman Jr./Facebook

    “We are being associated with something that has nothing to do with us,” its co-owner, Ron Bishop, told local media. “We are inclusive, we welcome everyone, and we don’t want to be associated with the negativity coming from another restaurant.”

    To everyone that happens to see this from The Grill page. There is a video circulating again from when we first opened. …

    Posted by Christopher Philip Wallman Jr. on Saturday, April 12, 2025

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    Wallman Jr. addressed the confusion, pleading with people to stop “calling a place that has zero connection to me and screaming obscenities in front of little girls.”

    Although the owner insisted that the matter should be left in the past, the public outcry shows no signs of stopping. 

    What began as a heated disagreement over a lunch bill spiraled into a harassment campaign with racial and political undertones.

    “Pure racism.” The owner’s words fell on deaf ears, as netizens kept accusing him of being racist

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    Abel Musa Miño

    Abel Musa Miño

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    Abel is a journalist at Bored Panda. Born in Santiago, Chile, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and a diploma in International Relations. In his spare time, you can find him tinkering with his motorbike, playing with his dog, or reading a good novel.

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    Abel Musa Miño

    Abel Musa Miño

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Abel is a journalist at Bored Panda. Born in Santiago, Chile, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and a diploma in International Relations. In his spare time, you can find him tinkering with his motorbike, playing with his dog, or reading a good novel.

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    FranSinclair
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I cant see myself in this situation as the owner or these customers but i can certainly imagine me being one of the other diners (and as someone who runs a restaurant myself) and i do not want the meal im paying for to come with a s**t show. If you have an issue of any sort in your restaurant why the hell would you want everyone there to know about it. On a rare occasion we've made mistakes. Maybe food over done or just doesnt make you happy...we try to keep that hush hush. I want to do everything in my power to make your dinner go well and fix the situation but i dont want everyone there knowing we messed up, act unprofessionally or stereotype?!

    Micah McDermott
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As a restaurant owner as well, I completely agree and want to add that this is an example of someone that doesn't understand the industry.

    Load More Replies...
    Mike F
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The guy is a stooge. Since January 20th people of his ilk feel emboldened to carry on like this in the open. That silly @ssed hayseed needs to realize that the pendulum WILL swing the other way and sanity will return. I hope he is prepared for the fallout and has a good backup plan, perhaps delivering pizzas.

    Glen Ellyn
    Community Member
    Premium
    3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm afraid it goes back farther than January 20. Racism and hatred came out from under their rocks back in 2016. It's just more blatant now.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
    FranSinclair
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I cant see myself in this situation as the owner or these customers but i can certainly imagine me being one of the other diners (and as someone who runs a restaurant myself) and i do not want the meal im paying for to come with a s**t show. If you have an issue of any sort in your restaurant why the hell would you want everyone there to know about it. On a rare occasion we've made mistakes. Maybe food over done or just doesnt make you happy...we try to keep that hush hush. I want to do everything in my power to make your dinner go well and fix the situation but i dont want everyone there knowing we messed up, act unprofessionally or stereotype?!

    Micah McDermott
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As a restaurant owner as well, I completely agree and want to add that this is an example of someone that doesn't understand the industry.

    Load More Replies...
    Mike F
    Community Member
    3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The guy is a stooge. Since January 20th people of his ilk feel emboldened to carry on like this in the open. That silly @ssed hayseed needs to realize that the pendulum WILL swing the other way and sanity will return. I hope he is prepared for the fallout and has a good backup plan, perhaps delivering pizzas.

    Glen Ellyn
    Community Member
    Premium
    3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm afraid it goes back farther than January 20. Racism and hatred came out from under their rocks back in 2016. It's just more blatant now.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
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