‘I want everybody to hear this’: South Carolina restaurant owner says couple refused to pay $137, but they say they never received the pork chops

A video filmed inside The Grill in Manning, South Carolina, shows owner Christopher Phillip Wallman Jr. speaking to the dining room about a couple seated in a booth. In the clip, Wallman Jr. said the pair had ordered $137 of food and were refusing to pay. The undated video was filmed by the wife and later circulated on X after DocumentingLibs (@HistorianUSA1) posted it, where it gained 2.4 million views, 8,400 likes, and more than 1,600 comments.

Wallman Jr. said in the video, “I want everybody to hear this now. This, this lovely couple has ordered $137, which we order all the time, for the 45 minutes they’ve been here, and they are refusing to pay.” The woman immediately replied that they were not refusing to pay the entire bill. She said they would not pay for pork chops they never received.

The woman stated that her husband is a disabled veteran, that they both work, and that they have the money to pay. She added that they dine out regularly. She said the pork chops first brought to the table were fried too hard and that a waitress offered something else in their place. The original video of the incident, which was uploaded on TikTok, currently seems deleted.

Owner later apologized on Facebook after the clips resurfaced

The woman said in the video that her husband asked for steak instead and that the waitress took the pork chops back. She and her husband said they only wanted the pork chops removed from the bill and were prepared to pay the rest. Wallman Jr. then said, “This is what I want from y’all. I will not be bullied inside my own restaurant for somebody to come in here and try to get free food of any kind.”

He told the couple he wanted them to walk out the door and never come back. The woman agreed they would not return. She repeated that they were only asking for items they did not receive to be taken off the check. Her husband said, “Just like anything else that you don’t receive, you wouldn’t pay for it, right?”

According to Blavity, Wallman Jr. asked whether they would pay a lower amount and leave if the pork chops came off the bill. The woman said they wanted the food cooked right if they were paying around $140. Wallman Jr. accused the couple of coming in and complaining about what was brought to the table.

Earlier this week, C. Philip Wallman Jr. addressed the resurfaced clips in a Facebook post from The Grill page. He wrote that the video was from when the restaurant first opened. He said, “I apologize for reacting to that couple the way I did.” He added that several circumstances occurred before she started filming that viewers do not see, and that those circumstances do not excuse his reaction.

He stated that the incident had nothing to do with race, color, creed, or religion. He wrote that the couple was dissatisfied and that the situation was not handled correctly. According to Google, The Grill holds a 4.2 rating with mixed reviews. Some patrons have said they enjoy dining there, while others have described the food as overpriced and overcooked, and the owner and staff as unfriendly. Yelp lists it with a 3.6 rating.

On X, some commenters said both sides could have reached an agreement and that neither seemed over the top. One commenter wrote, “I think both the owner and the customers both seemed like they can come to an agreement non of them seemd over the top.”

Another commenter said they thought the steak had been substituted for the pork chops and did not understand why the argument continued. They wrote, “I thought the steak was substituted for the pork chops. I don’t understand why they were still arguing. Did they expect to pay nothing even though they had steak? That’s just stupid.”

Other commenters focused on the bill and the veteran’s status. One wrote, “Disabled veteran has zero to do with this, pay the bill and stop trying to get free sh–t.” Another said customers should ask for a fix right away rather than eat and then complain: “If you get your food and something’s wrong, immediately asked for it to be fixed. But don’t eat the whole thing and then complain.”

One commenter said the owner asked them to leave and that the couple kept arguing. They wrote, “He asked them to leave, said there would be no charge, and they continued to argue. So frankly I don’t believe he was the bad guy. I think this is the culmination of bad attitude from the customer right from the start.”