Robert Irwin stopped by a popular restaurant in Australia during a recent road trip, but when he woke up the next morning, he realized he had made a shocking mistake: He left the restaurant without paying for his meal. Though accidentally dining and dashing is pretty embarrassing, Robert decided to share the story with all of his followers, many of whom praised him for it.
Robert stopped by a restaurant to pick up a salad.
In a video shared on Instagram, Robert, who is the son of the late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin, explained exactly what went wrong. “I’m road-tripping down the East Coast of Australia at the moment and I stopped in at Coffs Harbor, which is a beautiful coastal town in northern New South Wales, for a bit of dinner,” he explained.
The 21-year-old conservationist said he “found a great restaurant” and decided to order a salad. However, he didn’t realize how popular the restaurant was.
He described the restaurant as ‘the place to be.’
The restaurant, which is called the Jetty Pavilion, was absolutely “packed” that night, which also meant that some of Robert’s fans were there. Upon noticing him, they wanted to talk and take some photos. Robert said this was “all good” with him, but it ended up turning into “a bit of a frenzy.”
In spite of the chaos, the restaurant provided amazing service. Once his salad was ready, Robert took it, said goodbye to everyone, and left.
The next morning, he realized he had never paid for the salad.
Amid all the interactions with fans, Robert forgot to pay for his salad, and didn’t even realize he had forgotten until he woke up the next morning. “Then the next morning I wake up and realize, I never paid for my salad,” Robert recalled. “I just did the old dine and dash and didn’t even realize I’d done it. I felt terrible.”
He contacted the restaurant.
Robert said he reached out to the restaurant and tried to figure out the best way to pay for his meal. He had already left the area, which made it more difficult, but he was eager to find a solution. The restaurant was extremely understanding and said he didn’t need to pay for the salad. “They said, ‘We love what you do, it’s all good, sorry for the mix-up — just leave us a good review,'” Robert said.
Instead of simply leaving a review, Robert promoted the restaurant on social media.
Clearly feeling terrible about the mistake, Robert felt that leaving a positive review wasn’t enough. “So I said, ‘Guys, Jetty Pavilion, I gotta do you one better,'” Robert said. After telling the whole story via Instagram, he urged all of his followers to support the Jetty Pavilion.
“Go and support the Jetty Pavilion in Coffs Harbor, a fantastic local business, great team, great food, amazing atmosphere,” Robert stated. “That’s my review. They are the absolute best.” At the end of the video, Robert also told the restaurant that he would return and pay for his salad in cash because “today is not the day I start my life of crime.”
Fans loved the way he handled the situation.
“We must protect this gem of a human being at all costs,” one fan commented on the video.
A second fan wrote: “Your dad was a hero to me growing up and it’s awesome to see you following in his footsteps! Cheers to great men who love nature and our planet.”
A third fan called Robert’s apology “the absolute cutest and most honest thing I’ve seen all day.”
The Jetty Pavilion also reacted in the comments. “Thank you soooo much for visiting our venue we’re honestly blown away,” the restaurant commented on the post. “Being from a humble little coastal town, it means the world to us to have you stop by. We’re all huge fans, and truly appreciate the shoutout. We can only imagine how hard it must be to enjoy a quiet meal without being bombarded so thank you again for choosing us, and no stress about missing the payment! We’d absolutely love to have you back anytime… we might even have to name a salad after you 🐊🌿.”
