Multiple Columbus restaurants report serial dine and dasher – here’s what we know
He’s well known to wait staff across the city – the jovial, older man who dresses casually, enjoys a nice lunch at the bar, has a few drinks and engages bartenders in light conversation. He would be a great customer…except he never pays.
Meet Columbus’ own serial dine-and-dasher, who has been terrorizing Columbus restaurants for the past several months – perhaps up to a year or more. No one really knows how long. Skipping out on a tab is nothing new to the restaurant industry. It’s been done for as long as people have been dining out. But this man has turned the crime into an art form.
At the mere mention of “dine-and-dasher,” the young hostess at Third and Hollywood in Grandview laughed out loud. “Oh, yeah,” Virginia said. “I think he’s visited us a half-dozen times.” Another employee spoke up to say he comes in every couple of months and that Reeve, the day bartender, had served him just a few days earlier.
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Reeve was all too willing to talk. “I had heard about the dasher,” he said. “But this man was just too slick. I never had any reason to suspect anything. He was outgoing, very friendly, very talkative, like ‘Hey, buddy, how are you?’ He asked about our regional manager, by name, and said one of his daughters used to work here. He introduced himself to me – said his name was Patrick O’Rourke.”
“Everything he said seemed legit,” added Reeve. “He was a little sweaty and said he had just played 18 holes of golf. He had on a pink, pinstripe golf shirt and wore a hat with a golf insignia on the front.”
“Patrick” stayed at the bar from noon to about 1:30 p.m., starting with two Tito’s and cranberry juice, followed by a plate of smoked salmon and two glasses of wine. During the course of their extended conversation, Reeve mentioned to “Patrick” that he was interested in a career in construction. “Patrick” told the young man he was vice president of a big construction company in town and suggested Reeve might be a good fit for it. “Once he was finished with his salmon,” Reeve recalled, “he said he was going to his car to get a business card for me and that when he came back he would be ordering a hamburger. That was the last I saw of him.”
“Patrick” always leaves something behind, as if to say, “Don’t worry; I’m coming right back.” Usually, it’s an empty cell phone case and sometimes a pair of sunglasses or reading glasses. And that’s what he did on that early June afternoon at Third and Hollywood. “Eventually, when he didn’t come back, I became a little suspicious,” Reeve said. “I turned the phone case over and saw that it was empty. I knew right then that he had pulled the wool over my eyes.”
Ajay is the beverage manager at Lindey’s in German Village. He witnessed a very similar scene – also in early June. “I was taking inventory. This man came in and sat at the bar near the front door,” he said. “He ordered two double Tito’s and cranberry juice, two glasses of wine and two appetizers from our bartender.” Ajay recalled that the man had started a conversation with the bartender, that he was very casual and that he seemed to be in no hurry. “I was working nearby. After a while, the bartender called out to me and asked if I knew where the guy was. I looked up and, sure enough, he was gone.”
As he had done in Grandview, “Patrick” left behind a cell phone case. “I had seen the posts on Reddit,” Ajay said. “As soon as I saw the case, I realized what had just happened. I said to the bartender, ‘That’s going to be empty.’ And, of course, it was.”
On June 5th, a Redditor on the Columbus subreddit with the online name of “ColdManufacturer9482” asked if any other workers in the service industry had encountered this man. The poster said he worked at a restaurant on the west side and that the “dasher” had hit his place about 10 times.
That post opened a floodgate. Within 24 hours, more than 200 comments were registered – many from other workers at restaurants and bars that had been victimized by this man. Among them: “I witnessed this at Old Bag (of Nails) in Worthington. The sunglasses (are a) calling card.” Another: “Pulled it twice at Brio when I worked there.” And another: “This dude has 100% done this to my friend that works at a bar in UA.”
One Redditor asked, “So, why do you keep serving him?” The answer seems to be tied to “Patrick’s” disarming nature and the fact that there is a lot of turnover in the bartending business.
Bee, the manager of Old Bag of Nails in Worthington, also laughed when asked about the dasher. She confirmed that he has hit her place but was reluctant to give more information without corporate approval. Aly, at Tucci’s in Dublin, also laughed when asked about the dasher. “I know it’s happened here at least once,” she said. “But it could have been more.” Aly said “Patrick” hit her place on May 23rd, leaving behind a hat and glasses. And a waiter at Hank’s, in Downtown Columbus, believes his staff turned away a man of “Patrick’s” description as recently as the last week in June.
Bryce Westerhold is the general manager of Brio, at Easton. He recalled a recent visit by “Patrick.” “He left without paying,” Westerhold said. “Then, our bartender watched him cross the street in front of our restaurant, get in his car and stiff the valet.” He said this happened a few months ago.
What stands out the most to restaurant workers is that he is so good at what he does. Reeve, the bartender at Third and Hollywood, was completely taken in. “My girlfriend also works here,” he said. “When this guy visited us last week, I walked over to her and said, ‘See that man at the bar? He’s the serial dine and dasher.’ But I was just kidding. I was convinced this guy was legit. Then he walked out without paying. I was totally surprised,” he said. “But they’re gonna find him,” Reeve added. “I know they will.”
Until then, wait staff across Central Ohio would be well advised to keep a close eye on their smoked salmon and Tito’s.
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