A South Carolina restaurant owner has faced backlash over how he handled a couple’s complaint about their pork chops.
Several videos shared on TikTok capture Christopher Philip Wallman Jr., the owner of The Grill, confronting the couple and accusing them of trying to avoid paying their full bill.
“I want everyone in this restaurant to hear this right now,” Wallman Jr. declared to a room of visibly uncomfortable diners.
In a video that has garnered over 12 million views, Christopher Philip Wallman Jr. is seen addressing a couple at his restaurant, claiming they had ordered $137 worth of food during their 35-minute visit and were refusing to pay.
The husband interjected, explaining that his wife’s pork chops were overcooked, while the wife quickly clarified that they were willing to pay the bill — minus the pork chops that hadn’t met their expectations.
“My husband is a disabled veteran, he works a job as well, we have plenty of money,” she called out to other diners. “We never said we wouldn’t pay. We said we are refusing to pay for the pork chops we never received.”
Wallman Jr. responded firmly, stating, “I will not be bullied in my own restaurant,” before instructing the couple to leave and not return.
The encounter has since gone viral, drawing widespread backlash online. Many social media users have accused Wallman Jr. of discriminatory behavior and have called for a boycott of his establishment.
Christopher Philip Wallman Jr. appeared in a viral video confronting a couple, accusing them of not paying their full bill (left). The couple clarified that they were both willing and able to pay, but refused to cover the cost of pork chops they claimed were overcooked and had been sent back to the kitchen. After a prolonged exchange, Wallman Jr. ultimately removed the pork chops from the bill. The husband then paid the revised amount without issue.
Pictured: The ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Grill in October 2024. Wallman Jr. is seen on the right.
The incident quickly spread online, with many users posting the restaurant’s name, address, and phone number across TikTok and Instagram. The backlash intensified when the restaurant’s Yelp page was flooded with negative reviews, with several accusing the owner of racism toward the bi-racial couple and suggesting it influenced his handling of the situation. The situation escalated to the point that Yelp intervened.
A statement on the restaurant’s Yelp page read:
“This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content.”
It continued:
“While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with).”
In the viral clip, tensions remained high as both parties stood their ground. The husband, maintaining a calmer demeanor than his wife, reminded Wallman Jr. that the pork chops were sent back and never delivered to their table.
“The pork chops — we never received them,” he stated. “Just like anything else you don’t receive, you wouldn’t pay for it, right?”
After a drawn-out back-and-forth, Wallman Jr. agreed to remove the charge, adjusting the final bill to $122.92. The husband settled the bill without further incident.
Wallman Jr. has publicly apologized for how he responded to a couple’s complaints but also criticized those who refuse to move on from what he describes as a “misunderstanding” that took place six months ago.
Meanwhile, a restaurant in Virginia with a similar name has been caught up in the controversy by mistake. The co-owner of the Mill Street Grill (pictured) had to address the situation, clarifying that his business has no connection to Wallman Jr. or the incident.
The Virginia restaurant has reportedly been receiving phone calls and negative online reviews from people confusing it with Wallman Jr.’s establishment.
Wallman Jr. addressed the issue twice on Facebook, first posting an apology on April 12. He explained that the “misunderstanding” happened when his restaurant first opened about six months earlier.
“There’s a video making the rounds again from when we first opened. As I’ve said before — and I’ll say it again for anyone new — I apologize for how I reacted to that couple,” he wrote.
“There were several things that happened before she started recording that you don’t see. While that doesn’t excuse my reaction, it does explain it. It had nothing to do with race, color, religion, or anything like that.”
He added, “They were dissatisfied, and it wasn’t handled the right way — plain and simple.”
Two days later, on April 14, Wallman Jr. made another post condemning the harassment directed at the unrelated Virginia restaurant. Without naming Mill Street Grill, he mentioned people “calling a place that has zero connection to me and screaming obscenities in front of little girls.”
While there’s no evidence anyone has physically disrupted diners at the Virginia restaurant, co-owner Ron Bishop confirmed to WHSV that his business has received prank calls and negative reviews over an incident it had no part in.
“We’ve had people call and hang up, or leave bad reviews based on something that has nothing to do with us,” Bishop said. “We just want our community and others to know — we are not the restaurant in that video.”
