The End of El Gastrojeta
Eating at fine restaurants is great — until you have to pay the bill. Still, it’s what you have to do to enjoy an excellent meal. El Gastrojeta doesn’t think so. This notorious dine-and-dasher has inconvenienced and infuriated Spanish restaurateurs throughout the year. He would say he forget his wallet and even pretend to have a heart attack to get out of paying the bill. The trick proved surprisingly effective. What restaurant wouldn’t rather let the payment slide than become known as the place that let a man die for a few dozen bucks? But one man can only have a heart attack so many times before people start getting suspicious. Word began spreading among Spanish restaurants, warning them of a 50-something man who kept collapsing before paying. Finally, someone called El Gastrojeta’s bluff. When he tried his old trick at a restaurant in the city of Alicante, the manager didn’t call an ambulance — he called the police.
El Gastrojeta always used the same trick. He would enter a fancy restaurant and order something pricey to eat. He often picked what you’d usually expect — lobster, entrecote, or some other kind of fancy entrée. That would usually be accompanied by a glass or two of fine, premium whiskey. After finishing his meal, he’d try and sneak out without paying. That didn’t always work and the local police were familiar with El Gastrojeta’s face. What’s a dine-and-dasher to do? The answer was surprisingly simple — he began pretending he was having a heart attack.
It’s a genius move, really. How is the waiter or manager supposed to know whether the person falling to the floor before them is faking it or whether his heart is actually going on a reacting? The trick did work, and it worked very well. El Gastrojeta has pulled the stunt at least 20 times in 2023 alone. But just like with the Boy Who Cried Wolf, people eventually stopped believing the Man Who Cried Heart Attack. Lucky for El Gastrojeta, though, he wasn’t actually having a heart attack when restaurateurs’ goodwill ran out. He was identified as a 50-year-old Lithuanian Aidas J.” As he writhed on the floor, the manager must’ve realized who he was dealing with and called police. The officers recognized El Gastrojeta as soon as they arrived. Since he refused to give the police his address, he was taken into custody. The scammer has now been jailed for 42 days after he refused to pay two fines he received for his theatrics. His total take from all 20 stolen meals was about $835.
Foodies funnies
I wish that there was a restaurant named “I don’t care.”
so I’d finally know where my girlfriend was talking about.
I want to open an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant…
I’d call it “Endless Pastabilities.”
I arrived early at the restaurant. The manager asked, “Do you mind waiting a bit?
I said, “No.”
“Great,” he said. “Take these drinks over to table 9.”
An old Jewish man walks into a restaurant. He orders some soup. The waiter quickly brings his soup but the old man doesn’t eat. The waiter returns after some minutes. “Excuse me sir. Is there something wrong with your soup?”
“Try it and find out.” The old man responded.
“Is the soup too cold?”
“Try it.”
“I-is it too hot?”
“Just try it.”
“Not enough vegetables, too much broth, does it smell funny?”
“What are you? Just try the soup!” The old man shouts.
“Alright!” The waiter gives in. “Where’s the spoon?”
The old man just smiles.
October 23rd Birthdays
1987 – Emilia Clarke & “Carmella,” 1991 – Elise Bauman, 1986 – Jessica Stroup
1959 – Weird Al Yankovic, 1977 – Ryan Reynolds, 1941 – Pele, 1955 – Ang Lee