Restaurants hit by glass in food scam

Restaurants are being scammed by customers claiming to have found glass in their food, and getting fed for free.

Marie Yokoyama, who owns the Brisbane restaurant Bird’s Nest, has issued a warning to the industry that it’s going on after a group of three women, along with their four children, got out of paying a $180 bill.

Ms Yokoyama put up the warning on Facebook.

Since then, the post has gone viral with hundreds sharing her message.

It appears that the Bird’s Nest incident is not the only case.

According to the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association (RCIA), there have been a few cases from members who went through similar experiences.

 Ms Yokoyama said the women and their kids came into her restaurant in Fortitude Valley last Monday at about 2:50pm.

 She said their complaint about glass in their food came as a complete surprise.

"I was pretty confident the glass hadn't come from us. I was trying to match where it might have possibly come from in the restaurant and I couldn't find anything,” Ms Yokoyama told the ABC.

She ended up apologising and gave them their meals and drinks for free.

"I told them I'm sorry and cleared everything away from the table, thinking they were going to leave. Then she comes back after having a cigarette and says, 'where's my drink?'' she told the ABC.

"I poured them another round of drinks and they came up to my face and said: 'I'm really traumatised, I'm really traumatised. We were going to come back here but we not going to come back, we were going to bring more people back.'

"It's pretty full on. I felt intimidated."

She said she had since then learned of at least one other Brisbane restaurant that she believes was hit to the same group.

"They ordered steaks and prawns, and then half way through the meal claimed there was glass and demanded it for free," Ms Yokoyama told the ABC.

She has reported the incident from her restaurant to police.

Leon Getler 8th March 2018.