Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Mystery Diners"...

I don't want anybody to know I've called Mystery Diners.

Charles, they're big jugs.

Those are growlers.

It's against the law for me to fill those and sell them.

Patrick, grab a magnetic tracking device

and put it in the wheel well of that van.

She just threw that order into the trash can.

I need to put a stop to this now.

My name is Charles Stiles.

For over 20 years, I've helped thousands of restaurants

eliminate their problems.

That's a frickin' thief.

Put it down.

You're fired.

But people are becoming savvy.

Mystery diner?

MAN: No. We're good.

So we're going deeper undercover...

WOMAN: The bride and groom!

...using private investigators...

I tagged a few of your barrels.

...and unleashing new technology.

Release the drone.

This is "Mystery Diners"...

Surprise.

...like you've never seen before.

MAN: How long have you been stealing from me?!

MAN #2: Do you want to go to jail?

Charles.

Yes, Charles Stiles, Mystery Diners.

Pleasure to meet you. -Pleasure to meet you.

First of all, I want to thank you

for meeting me outside the restaurant.

It's a real sensitive issue,

and I don't want anybody to know I've called Mystery Diners.

You know, I understand that -- meet outside the restaurant.

Obviously, you don't want your staff to get suspicious,

so, you know, but at the same time,

that means I don't actually get to see your restaurant,

so tell me about it.

My name is Rick Bennett, and I own

the Weiland Brewery Restaurant

out here in Long Beach, California.

The original Weiland Brewery opened in 1898 and operated

up until the dark days of Prohibition.

It was closed all the way until 1999

when I reopened it in downtown Los Angeles

as the Weiland Brewery Restaurant.

And recently, I relocated the restaurant

out here to Long Beach,

where we've only been open for a few months.

We have 24 beers on draft,

but by far our best sellers are the Weiland craft beers.

We have the Honey Blonde Lager, Amber Ale, India Pale Ale,

and Hefeweizen.

We also have great food.

One of my favorites are the seared scallops.

The scallops are seared

and served on a bed of Champagne Parmesan risotto.

It's excellent.

We also have a great Weiland Burger.

It's a blend of three meats -- chuck, rib eye, and short rib.

You can choose from over 20 toppings.

I like it with green olives, the blue cheese, and bacon.

And it's delicious.

When we spoke on the phone, you said

that you were having a discrepancy

in your beer inventory.

Can you elaborate more specifically on what you mean?

Yeah. I'm ordering more and more inventory,

but it's not matching my sales.

So, is it specific beer

or is it across the board with all your draft beers?

No, that's only the Weiland craft beers --

the Honey Blonde, Amber Ale,

Pale Ale, and Hefeweizen.

Well, that's an odd issue.

So, do you actually brew on premises?

We don't brew on premise.

We contract brew with one of the best brewers in the country,

and they're out of Colorado.

So, I mean, any kind of idea

of how much per month you're losing?

About a barrel and a half a week.

So, this translates into six barrels a month.

Those barrels would represent

thousands of dollars in sales.

Well, I mean, that's a significant loss.

I mean, we're not talking just a little bit of beer.

I've been in the restaurant business over 20 years,

and I know when I'm ordering more beer in

and sales aren't going up, there's a big problem.

Someone's stealing from me. I just don't know who.

So, I mean, do you have any suspects?

I have two people I want to look at.

One is my manager, Mike.

He's been with me for years and years.

He's more than an employee. He's a friend.

And the lead bartender, Kyle.

He handles the beer from the time it comes in

until it's sold to the customer.

So he should have some idea what's going on.

Well, Rick, we're definitely gonna take a look

at your manager, Mike, and your bartender Kyle.

But we'll also take a look at everybody else on your staff,

because at the end of the day, your beer's going somewhere.

You've got a problem.

You've got to get to the bottom of it.

Exactly what I want.

So, in addition to placing hidden cameras and microphones

throughout your entire restaurant,

we'll set up the sting on a day

when most of your deliveries occur.

We're also gonna select the very best Mystery Diners

for this specific mission.

One of the other things that I'll do

is I'll bring in a private investigator, and that way,

he can do a background check on all your employees

and make sure there's no red flags

that we should be looking at there.

And I think it'd be a good idea to have him also do a stakeout

at your restaurant over a few nights.

That way, we can look for any kind of suspicious activity

that might be taking place after it's closed.

I can't thank you enough for coming out.

This is a very serious problem.

If these losses continue, I'll have to lay off staff.

That'll impact my customer experience,

and that's the last thing I want.

Well, Rick, welcome to your control room. What do you think?

Wow, Charles. This is great.

Well, as you can see,

we have cameras throughout your restaurant.

And we didn't miss anything.

We have your kitchen...

your dining area...

your beer cooler...

your outside parking lot --

basically, anyplace an employee or customer can be,

we got it covered.

That's fantastic. I want the answer,

and I want to know

who's taking the beer from my restaurant.

Now why don't we turn our attention

to inside your restaurant and start the sting?

Well, Rick, that looks like your manager, Mike,

right there on the floor. -Yes, that's Mike.

He's been with me

for quite some time at the other restaurant.

We transferred him over to the new one.

He's a trusted employee, and I certainly hope

he's not the source of the problem.

So, I'm looking behind your bar.

It looks like your bartender Kyle, is that correct?

Yes, that's Kyle.

Great personality, good bartender,

and people seem to like him.

Well, good. So, he does a good job, then.

He does do a good job. Very nice job.

What I'd like to do now

is have my private investigator, Patrick, come in

and share something that you might find interesting.

Patrick, come on in to the control room.

Hey, Patrick. -Hey, Charles. How you doing?

CHARLES: Good, good, good. This is Rick, the owner.

Yep. Hi, Rick. How you doing?

Doing well.

Well, tell us what you got.

Well, under Charles' direction,

I conducted comprehensive background checks

on every single one of your employees,

and good news is everyone checked out pretty clean.

And as part of my investigation,

I also wanted to stake out your restaurant

during the late-night hours,

and it was on night number two that I captured

some suspicious activity

that I think you're gonna want to see.

Take a look over your shoulder at the video.

So, during the course of the surveillance,

I noticed something really strange.

Now, as you can see, Rick, this video was shot

from behind your restaurant in the alley.

This is in the early morning hours,

after your restaurant's closed.

Do you recognize the van or the driver of this van?

I don't recognize either of them.

Now, as you can see here, this individual is the one

I observed taking crates from inside your restaurant.

Now, do you recognize that individual?

Yeah, that's my bartender Kyle.

What the [bleep] is he doing there?

Son of a [bleep]

I wasn't able to ascertain

exactly what was in the crates,

but they loaded several of them from your restaurant

into the back of that van.

There's no crates like that in my restaurant

and absolutely no reason my bartender

should be there after hours.

You know, the fact that you're missing beer

and he's hauling things out of your restaurant --

I'd have to say he's directly involved.

You've got to be [bleep] me.

RICK: That's my bartender Kyle.

What the [bleep] is he doing there?

And what's in those crates?

CHARLES: You know, the fact that you're missing beer

and he's hauling things out of your restaurant --

I'd have to say he's directly involved.

You've got to be [bleep] me.

I had no idea this was happening.

Well, Patrick, good job, as always.

Do me a favor and stick by close in case I need you.

-Okay. Will do. -All right. Thanks.

Well, that was some pretty incriminating video

that we had to watch.

This is exactly why I called your company.

CHARLES: Now why don't we turn our attention back

to your restaurant.

So, tell me about the server over here on the floor.

Uh, that's Gia. Customers like her.

She's doing a really great job.

Let me ask. Who is Sai?

He's a great guy.

He's won our employee incentive program every time

since we've opened the restaurant.

So, tell me how the employee incentive program works

here at your restaurant.

Well, it's the employee with the highest sales

and the best customer satisfaction.

So, what do the recipients actually win?

Anything from trips to Disneyland,

Laker tickets, Dodger tickets.

It sounds to me like Gia doesn't believe Mike

that she's actually losing to Sai

on this employee incentive program.

I want to find out why Gia doesn't believe Mike.

And, as you know, Mystery Diner Brianna

started a few days ago as a waitress,

so I'm gonna have her go in and do some digging.

Yeah, let's have her check it out.

Brianna, Gia's really upset

about the employee incentive program.

Why don't you go over and see if you can find out why?

BRIANNA: I've been undercover for a few days,

and from what I've seen, the staff is extremely friendly

and the customers are always happy.

But based on my experience,

the brighter things are on the surface,

it usually means

there's something ugly hiding underneath.

Hey, Gia? So, we have an employee incentive program?

How does that work?

Is he a good waiter, though?

You know, I got to say, that's a pretty serious accusation.

I don't believe Gia's correct, and I'll tell you why.

I run the sales reports through the computer,

and it would be extremely difficult

to falsify those reports.

Okay, well, good luck.

We just uncovered something we weren't expecting to find.

Gia feels very strongly that Sai isn't a good waiter,

and I wonder if this could be related

to your beer loss in some way.

That's a good question.

So, let's use this opportunity to test him.

I'm gonna bring in Mystery Diner Jamie, and that way,

we can find out definitively whether he's the server

that you believe he is.

That sounds great. Let's do it.

Jamie, go ahead and go on in,

and make sure you sit in Sai's section.

And I want you to really put him through the ringer

and test him on his knowledge of the menu

and all of his customer-service skills.

I have a reservation, party of two under Jamie.

Yeah.

The rivalry surrounding the employee incentive program

is a new development worth investigating.

So, for this sting,

I'm gonna test Sai to see if he's really earning his sales.

JAMIE: Hey, how are you?

If you had to pick one beer, what do you recommend?

The Dutchess IPA?

Jamie, see if he knows

all the beers on tap here at the restaurant.

Do you know all the beers by heart?

Like, do you know -- Could you name every single one?

Go.

One.

Two. Three.

You guys have been open for a few months,

so, I mean, in theory, he should know all of your beers

that you have on tap, correct?

It's a tall order,

but I expect him to know that information.

Yep. Yeah.

You hit the whole list.

No, you didn't remember them, either.

[ Both laugh ]

If you get the sliders, I'll have, like, a couple.

You can have most of them, but I just want to have one.

And we'll split the turkey burger, too, is that cool?

All right. Thank you, Sai.

All right. I appreciate it.

You know, based on what I am seeing and hearing, I mean,

I'm not surprised that Sai is winning every month.

Rick, take a look at this back-alley monitor.

That's the same van that we saw

in that video that my private investigator captured.

Sure enough, it's the same driver,

and there are the crates.

I'm willing to bet that your bartender Kyle comes out

to meet him any second.

I think you're right, Charles.

Wait a minute. That's not Kyle.

That's your manager, Mike.

What the [bleep] is going on right now?

They're buddies.

And he's helping them unload the crates

we saw leave your restaurant the other night.

I don't understand why Mike would be doing this.

Well, whatever's in those crates,

Mike is stashing them in your beer cooler.

It doesn't make any sense.

Is this really happening?

Why don't we send in Mystery Diner Brianna into the cooler

and find out exactly what's inside of those crates.

Yes, let's do that.

Brianna, I want you to go into the beer cooler.

You're gonna see several crates

stacked on top of each other.

I want you to look inside and tell me what's in there.

And be careful.

Don't let Mike see you go in there.

Charles, they're big jugs.

Those are growlers,

and we don't sell growlers at Weiland Brewery.

So, why is that?

You can only sell growlers if you brew on premise.

It's against the law for me to fill those and sell them.

Mike and Kyle are heading back to the walk-in.

Brianna, put that away and get out of there.

Mike is on his way back to the cooler.

CHARLES: Mike and Kyle are heading back to the walk-in.

Brianna, put that away and get out of there.

Mike is on his way back to the cooler.

BRIANNA: Whoops. Sorry.

[ Sighs ]

Look what Mike and Kyle are doing.

They're tapping your kegs.

They're filling those growlers with your beer.

That's why you're missing your beer.

Unless you pick the keg up and shake it around,

you don't even know it's missing.

It's hard to find.

They've gotten so brazen with this scam

they're not even waiting until after-hours to do it.

They're doing it in the middle of a packed house.

Charles, I got to stop this.

Let it play a little bit longer.

My private investigator, Patrick, is outside.

I'll have him put a tracking device on the van.

We'll make sure we're able to track the van

and stop it before it gets anywhere.

-All right. -We'll make sure it gets stopped.

Patrick, grab a magnetic tracking device

and put it in the wheel well of that van.

Tracking device is in place.

We'll know exactly where it's going.

It's not gonna get away. -Fantastic.

Rick, look over here in your kitchen.

It sounds like Gia's upset

over the wait time on her food.

Let's listen in.

She just threw that order into the trash can.

I can't believe what I'm seeing.

She's sabotaging him. She's throwing my food away.

She's history.

Now it's gonna affect the ticket time.

They're gonna have to remake the food.

It definitely has a domino effect here,

and it runs throughout the restaurant.

Look at all the confusion

that Gia's caused in the kitchen now.

I mean, you got Sai back there looking for an order

that's now in the trash can.

And the line cooks are saying, "Hey, the order left."

She brought the kitchen to a complete halt.

JAMIE: Thank you.

That explains to me why he's always number one,

because, I mean, you take care of your customers

like that -- -Yeah.

That is being an ambassador for your business.

It certainly is.

Wow. Yeah, I got to say, I mean,

I've been doing this for a lot of years,

and this is a Mystery Diners first

to actually see a server pay for a meal

out of their own pocket for a mistake

that was made that wasn't even their fault.

He's a good guy.

It only took a couple extra minutes.

You don't need to --

Just, for what it's worth, we're having a great time.

No.

Your manager fixed that ticket for Sai,

and now he's right back in the beer cooler again,

filling those growlers.

I've had just about enough of this bull[bleep]

Charles, I need to put a stop to this now.

You know what? I agree.

Why don't you go there and grab Mike and Kyle,

bring them back in here, get them stopped,

and we'll deal with them.

And don't worry about that van.

We'll notify the authorities.

This isn't just simple theft.

Mike and Kyle are jeopardizing my liquor license

by trying to sell growlers of beer outside the restaurant.

Hey, who are you?

[Bleep] out of my restaurant.

You two, stop what you're doing right now!

MIKE: Holy!

What the [bleep] is all this, Rick?

Mike, Kyle, take a look around.

What do you think this is?

Guys, let me explain what's going on.

My name's Charles Stiles.

I'm with a company called Mystery Diners.

Your owner, Rick, called my company

because shortly after he opened his restaurant,

he noticed a huge discrepancy in his beer sales,

specifically his Weiland specialty beers.

And we know why he's missing beer.

You two are running this scam

out of the back of the restaurant.

-Oh, no, no -- -Listen to me. Listen to me.

No, you guys listen.

You got this guy in a delivery truck bringing in growlers,

and you're siphoning off the top of the kegs

and hauling them out of here in the middle of the night.

No, no, no. It was a one-time deal.

All we wanted to do was get some Weiland beer.

We love it.

We were gonna throw a big party

for a friend of ours this weekend.

I mean, honestly, when you think about it,

it's really a good way to promote your beer.

Do you expect me to believe some bull[bleep]

that you were gonna promote this at a party?

For one party.

Now, look at me, both of you guys.

You're gonna tell me this is a one-time thing tonight.

That's your story? You guys are sticking to it?

Turn around and take a look at the board over here.

This guy Patrick on the board --

He's an undercover private investigator that works for me.

And he's got footage of Kyle hauling these growlers

out of here just like you did tonight.

48 growlers tonight.

48 growlers 3 days ago.

48 growlers a week for 3 months.

Are you kidding me? Party, my ass.

I know what you [bleep] guys were gonna do.

You're selling this beer

and sticking the money in your pocket.

Of course not. No.

We don't brew beer here, and we can't sell growlers.

And you're out there selling growlers of my beer.

You can cost me a lot more than just the money we've lost.

You're lucky if you don't end up in jail tonight.

I'm not going to jail for this [bleep]

CHARLES: Well, you guys actually might, because you know what?

The buddy that was driving the van?

We put a tracker on that van, and guess what.

We already notified the police,

and they're en route to intercept that van as we speak.

So, there's a good chance you guys are going to jail.

I'll make it up to you any way I can.

There's no way to make this up.

There's no way to repair this trust.

You two are both thieves, and you're both fired.

I'm sorry, Rick.

CHARLES: Well, you know what, Rick?

You've got a little bit of housekeeping to do.

Gia -- You're gonna have to have a talk with her.

And also, Sai -- We watched him do an amazing job tonight,

and there is a reason he is employee of the month.

Absolutely.

He did a great job under some difficult circumstances.

But I got to tell you, you got a beautiful restaurant,

you got a great crew in there,

and the food coming out of there looks amazing.

Charles, I want to thank you for coming out

and taking care of this problem,

and if you'll let me repay you for all your hard work,

I'll take you next door and buy you two beers --

one for each idiot we got rid of.

-I'll take you up on that. -All right.

-All right. -Let's go.

NARRATOR: Since being fired,

Mike and Kyle have been contacted by the authorities.

Gia was embarrassed by her actions

and has apologized for her behavior.

Sai has yet to lose the employee incentive program.

And Rick is happy to report that sales are back to normal

and all of his beer is accounted for

at Weiland Brewery Restaurant.