Dine-and-dashers’ appallingly smug act as they get up from restaurant table and run away without paying

A trio of dine-and-dashers smiled smugly as they fled a Chicago restaurant without paying for their $200 lunch. 

The group was caught on surveillance cameras running off from their outdoor table at Phlavz Bar and Grille in the Windy City on Monday. 

The suspects, a man and two women, can be seen siting at the table before the man quickly gets up and shuffles away from the restaurant. The women quickly follow him. 

A table of two seated near them watch the whole thing unfold, the video shows, as a server comes out and approaches the now-empty table.

According to co-owner Andrew Bonsu, the thieving diner made off without paying their $200 tab for a shrimp and lobster dinner. 

‘It’s actually disappointing, very disappointing to see that from the community we actually serve,’ Bonsu told ABC7. ‘We pour into the community.’

Phlavz co-owner Phil Simpson added: ‘ The young lady that was serving that table, she’s got kids at home. 

‘She gets a percentage of that tip. She worked hard to serve that table. They had a lot of food.’

The group was caught on surveillance cameras running off from their outdoor table at Phlavz Bar and Grille in the Windy City on Monday 

The suspects, a man and two women, can be seen siting at the table before the man quickly gets up and shuffles away from the restaurant. The women quickly follow him 

Under Illinois law, theft of services under $500 constitutes a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year behind bars and a fine of $2,500

Simpson added that he had seen the dine-and-dash trend popping up across the city, and decided to share the clip of the three to the restaurant’s social media accounts in hopes of curtailing it. 

Before long, online sleuths had managed to identify the three who Simpson said he has since been in contact with. 

‘They apologized. They sent someone to pay the bill, but I declined to accept it,’ he said. ‘At that point, we are going to pursue this the right way.’ 

The owners decided to file a report for theft of labor or services with local police.

‘For us to put our hard-earned money into this and set this up for our community, to see things like this happening, it’s tasteless,’ Bonsu added.

‘It’s important to at least let them know Phlavz is not going to be tolerating the dine-and-dash.’

The president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, Sam Toia, told the outlet that dine-and-dash has been on the rise since the onset of the pandemic. 

‘We see this dine-and-dash really hurt the independent restaurants. It definitely ticks up in the summer months,’ he said.

The thieves offered to pay for the meal, but owners decided to file a report for theft of labor or services with local police

Phil Simpson, left, and Andrew Bonsu, right, own the restaurant in Chicago 

Under Illinois law, theft of services under $500 constitutes a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year behind bars and a fine of $2,500. 

In March of this year, three brazen women skipped out on paying their $262.11 bill at trendy Chicago eatery Soul Vibez. 

Surveillance footage showed the women exited the restaurant one-by-one within just 30 seconds of their server stepping away from the table. 

Chicago police investigating the incident had their jobs made easier after the masterminds failed to conceal their identities. 

They provided their real names and phone numbers when adding themselves to the restaurant’s waitlist before being seated, FOX32 reported.

The alleged thieves then took to social media to boast about their crime, actually tagging Soul Vibez in posts thanking them for the ‘free food.’