There are plenty of ways people try to avoid paying for a meal, from walking out before the check arrives to disputing charges after the fact. Every so often, though, a situation comes along that stands out for how deliberate and poorly thought out it is. That appears to be the case with a Houston woman and her partner who were caught on camera attempting to plant hair in a dish at a Texas restaurant in hopes of getting a free meal.
The incident took place at Fajita Grill, a Texas restaurant that had security cameras installed inside the dining area. Those cameras ended up capturing the entire scheme from start to finish. According to the footage, the Houston woman was seated across from her partner when she reached up and quietly pulled hair from her tied-back hairstyle. She placed the strands on the table, where her partner then picked them up and later placed them onto his plate.
The video does not include audio, but the body language makes the plan clear. After placing the hair on his food, the man began reacting as though he had just discovered it there. He gestured toward his plate and signaled for an employee to come over. When a male staff member arrived at the table, the Houston woman accused the Texas restaurant of being unhygienic and claimed there was hair in their food.
Unfortunately for the couple, their plan quickly began to fall apart. Beyond the fact that the Texas restaurant had cameras recording the table, the staff pointed out a key inconsistency. There were no female employees working in the kitchen at the time, and no one on staff had blonde hair. That made it highly unlikely the hair could have come from food preparation.
The male customer attempted to argue his way out of the situation. He claimed the hair could not belong to him because his hair was short. He also suggested it could not be from the Houston woman because her hair was tied up. At that point, staff at the Texas restaurant decided to review the camera footage to clarify what had actually happened.
The footage confirmed exactly what employees suspected. The Houston woman was clearly seen pulling hair from her own head and placing it on the table before her partner transferred it to his plate. With that evidence, there was little left to dispute. The couple did not receive a free meal, and the attempt to deceive the Texas restaurant was exposed.
After details of the incident were shared online, many people criticized the Houston woman’s actions and expressed support for the restaurant. “Grifters are going to grift,” one commenter wrote.
Another person said they had recently visited the Texas restaurant and wanted to defend the staff. “I was just there two days ago and it was my first experience,” the commenter said. “I work in customer service, and they had the best customer service I’ve had in a very, very long time. I actually left a review while I was there. This entire thing makes me so upset because of how nice these people are. They did not deserve this.”
