‘Are you guys illegal?’: Cleveland women enter restaurant after hours, then allegedly turned racist when staff refused service
All because the restaurant was closed, allegedly.
Being a server isn’t easy, and more often than not, they have to deal with unruly customers—even when the restaurant is closed. That was the case for the servers at a restaurant in Cleveland, who informed a pair of women that the business was closed for the night, only to allegedly be attacked with racist questions for failing to serve them.
The incident was shared by Gaby (@gaby_the_sociologist) in a TikTok video that has since reached over 3.2 million views. According to Gaby, the encounter happened on Sept. 19 at The Flats in Cleveland, Ohio, when two women allegedly entered the restaurant after hours and wanted to order.
“All the workers did was politely inform them that the restaurant was closed so they could not give them food or the wifi password and the following ensued,” Gaby said in her caption. Gaby claimed the two women, whom she described as “white,” turned the situation into a race issue and questioned the restaurant’s servers’ “status” in the country.
The women allegedly kept asking racist questions
In the video, stools are visibly placed upside down on tables—a common practice that signals the restaurant is closed for cleaning. One of the women can be heard asking the server recording the video if they “could show your ID,” before the other chimed in, asking if they “even work here” at the restaurant. “Can you show your ID? Please show your ID,” one of the women asked again.
In the background, someone can be heard saying “no service.” However, one of the women continued to question the servers as they went about their closing duties. “Do you guys have, like, American passports?” the woman asked. A male server can be heard responding, “What are you talking about? An American passport? Just go away, please.”
The woman wasn’t discouraged by the request and continued to challenge the workers about their immigration status in the United States. “Oh, my god. Are you guys, like, illegal?” the woman asked before asking for their names. During the encounter, the servers barely responded to the woman’s questions, only speaking to repeatedly tell them they were closed.
One of the servers eventually had enough and threatened to call security. “Your security guard can get me,” the woman said. “I’m an American citizen. Are you an American citizen?” The two servers confirmed they were American citizens before firmly instructing the woman to leave.
The women allegedly tried to involve police
The incident highlighted the challenges servers face when dealing with unpredictable situations, as they are often expected to handle them professionally while protecting the restaurant’s reputation. At the same time, viewers couldn’t understand why the women allegedly resorted to racist remarks.
“When I’m drunk I’m telling everyone I love them this is wild,” one viewer said. Another added, “Stop blaming their racism on alcohol. They were racist before they got drunk. Stop excusing racism. Plsssss.” A third commented, “I never understood why being from another country is used as an insult.. is it jealousy that makes a person act out like that?”
Some believe that Gaby’s video could have repercussions for the women’s future careers, as companies have previously fired employees after they were involved in public scandals. Others found the woman’s requests absurd, considering that she was inside a closed restaurant. “’Can you show your ID?’ Ma’am I think you’ve got this backwards,” a viewer wrote.
Gaby claimed that the women tried to involve the police and used their “white femininity to victimize themselves” despite allegedly being the instigators. However, the video does not show any interaction with the police, and it’s unclear what happened to one of the women, as only one remains by the end of the video.
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