When the food and service in an establishment are appalling, the temptation to leave without paying is sometimes pretty high. But, Robert Irwin dined and dashed at a popular restaurant by accident, and was left full of guilt.
It was while traveling through Australia that the son of famed Steve Irwin popped into a restaurant for a takeout salad. Swarmed by fans, he became flustered. The service from Jetty Pavilion in Coffs Harbour was great, but the young conversationist was less than a perfect customer.
Posting on his Instagram, Robert Irwin shared a public apology to his millions of followers after he dined and dashed. “Hi guys, Robert here. So I have a funny story,” he began. “I’m road-tripping down the East Coast of Australia at the moment and I stopped in at Coffs Harbour, which is a beautiful coastal town in northern NSW, for a bit of dinner.”
He’s a pretty popular guy in Aus, continuing his father’s legacy of wildlife love and earthly conservation. He was overwhelmed by loving fans while waiting for food. “I went in there and there were a lot of people who saw me and wanted a photo, but it turned into a bit of a frenzy.”
But he did his due diligence and signed autographs, took selfies, and reminded people to recycle. But, in the stress of it all, he took his takeout food, waved goodbye, and left. Inadvertently, Robert Irwin had dined and dashed.
An Innocent Mistake
It was only later that Robert Irwin realized he had failed to pay for the meal. “Then the next morning, I wake up and realize I never paid for my salad. I just did the old dine-and-dash and didn’t even realize it. I felt terrible.”
Overcome with guilt, he called the restaurant and apologized, offering to pay for his stolen food. “They said, ‘We love what you do, it’s all good, sorry for the mix-up — just leave us a good review,'”
But he wanted to go above and beyond for the restaurant. With clout like Robert Irwin, he has a following that could do more than just pay after he dined and dashed. “I’ll be coming back up through Coffs Harbour and I’ll give you the money myself,” he said. He then went on to heavily promote the spot, with his older sister also giving them a shoutout.