A family has gone viral because of their beef with a Georgia restaurant owner who they think totally overreacted when their family visited earlier this month. Lyndsey and Kyle Landmann were with their three sons and several other families at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant in Blue Ridge for an evening of fun, but it ended on a sour note instead.
Toccoa reportedly has a policy in place where it will charge adults “unable to parent” if their kids misbehave while at the restaurant. The Landmanns thought it was a joke, but when they saw a $50 fee tacked onto their bill, they realized the restaurant really wasn’t kidding.
There were a lot of kids in their group that night.
Lyndsey, who lives in Florida with her family, told Today that she and her husband were with a group of families and 11 kids ranging from 3 to 8. Yes, that is a lot of kids, but Lyndsey says they were all on their best behavior that night.
“The kids were sitting at one end of the table and they were being so good,” she told Today. “I even commented halfway through the meal, ‘I can’t believe how well-behaved they are.'”
She said after dessert, some of the kids went down to the water.
Lyndsey told Today there were adults with the children, and they continued their good behavior outside. But while some of the group was out, Lyndsey said the owner, Tim Richter, came to the table to talk with the adults.
She thought he was coming to compliment them on their well-behaved brood, but instead, he reportedly slapped them with a $50 charge for unruly children.
Richter allegedly displayed some bad behavior himself.
Lyndsey said that when she challenged that charge, the restaurant owner told her the kids were “too loud” and “running around outside.” The mom of three thought this was ridiculous, and she wanted to speak to the owner, not realizing she was already speaking with him.
He allegedly got in their faces and told them they should have gone to Burger King, not his restaurant.
“I looked around the restaurant and everybody was frozen watching this show he was putting on. He was yelling. It was alarming,” she said.
Kyle took to Google to let the world know how he felt.
He gave the restaurant a 1-star review and said, “The owner came out and told me he was adding $50 to my bill because of my children’s behavior. My kids watched a tablet until the food arrived, ate their food and my wife took them outside while I waited and paid the bill. Pretty sure the owner is doing drugs in the back. Disappointed by the experience.”
Other reviews echo his sentiment.
One customer wrote: “If you have children, absolutely avoid this place at all costs. Holy moly — the most disrespectful owner made a huge scene in front of the entire restaurant because our children were ‘running through the restaurant’ — they were down by the river.. we were told we need to ‘go to Burger King and Walmart’ and that we were bad parents. They have a $50 surcharge for ‘bad children’. We were a group of 21 and our server was AMAZING and was overly apologetic. Terrible business practice, we will never be back.”
“Don’t go if you have children,” someone else wrote on Google. “We were 3 adults, 2 children and our 4mo baby and since we entered to the place they gave us a bad look. Later my wife was rocking the baby (not crying, just to make him sleep) and this ‘manager’ told her that you don’t do that in a fancy restaurant (of course this is not a fancy restaurant) and later moved our stroller in a bad way. Food is not good either. Do yourself a favor a go somewhere else.”
One mother alleged the restaurant didn’t respect her adult son’s disability. “My son fought for this country and in doing so lost his leg,” another review reads. “The least the owner could’ve done was give him and his service dog some respect. Instead he belittled my son and his other veteran friends about why or if my sons clearly vested service dog was even necessary. Boycott this place and spend your money elsewhere. His food only serves there, our $$$ spends everywhere!”
Others think the restaurant has the right idea.
Plenty of adults feel that the owner did the right thing. If they pay for a nice dinner out, they don’t want to be bothered by other people’s kids. A Redditor posted about Toccoa’s policy and wrote, “The one restaurant fee I fully support!!!”
“Now this is a surcharge I can get behind,” someone wrote. “I’ve had about enough of screaming kids running around causing havoc in restaurants. If your kids spend more than 10% of the time out of their seats when dining out, this surcharge is for you. Double for running around like it’s a playground.”
Another agreed: “I’m totally behind the restaurant owner! I wish more places would follow in the same way. There’s nothing worse than trying to enjoy a meal while having to listen to kids screaming, crying, or running amuck. Then, only to have the parent say ‘my child wouldn’t do that’ BRAVO, to the restaurant!”
“I fully support this fee,” another comment reads. “I decry the parents who cannot control their children.”
The owner reportedly did not respond to Today‘s request for comment, but an employee did answer a call and said, “We’re not going to comment on a policy we’ve had for years. We just want to live in the woods and cook.”