An annoying, entitled man who also happens to be an “aspiring” food influencer demanded a seat at a New Jersey restaurant on Christmas Eve. He claimed he had a reservation, but evidence online showed otherwise. He has since drawn backlash, with many users blasting him in every video he has posted.
While the original clip has since been deleted, TikTok user daadisnacks (Daadi) reacted to it. The video features Scott Mahnken, who calls himself the “NJ FOOD GUY,” and shows him confronting two female employees at Artisan’s Restaurant & Brewery in Toms River, New Jersey.
Scott claimed he reserved “two spots at the bar,” but the women refused to serve him, even booting him out of the establishment. Bizarrely, Scott keeps referring to himself as “NJ FOOD GUY,” influencer style, even though he only has 265 followers as of the writing of this article. He had 150 when Daadi reacted to his video.
Daadi quickly debunked Scott’s claim that he had reservations for the restaurant’s bar. He showed a screenshot of Artisan’s Restaurant’s website, which shows that, while you can, in fact, book reservations for the dining room and lounge, you cannot do so at the bar.
Not only that, but in a recent Instagram post, the restaurant addressed the incident and clarified that they, indeed, do not take bar seat reservations. The restaurant’s general manager, thanking the support they received, even announced a 15% off discount to anyone who used the code “I’M AN INFLUENCER,” mocking Scott’s attempt to cancel them.
‘Influencer’ Dragged Online, Reactions
Users were quick to join in the bashing, flooding NJ FOOD GUY’s comment sections with mockery and trolling. The number of views and the lack of likes were the icing on the cake.
“He’s a legend in his own mind,” one user said. Another one commented, “Anyone that’s rude to the service industry is not a good person.” A third one added, “I like how this guy does food reviews without showing any food.”
Clout chasing online is basically the norm nowadays. Unfortunately, the most effective way is to trigger or bother other people in real life. Fortunately for Artisan’s Restaurant & Brewery, it appears that the “controversy” worked out in their favor.
