Horrified tourist finds note on her restaurant receipt saying ‘burn the eggs and spit on them’ after she asked for them not to be runny
A Brazilian tourist, Maria Clara, was left shaken after staff at a restaurant in Romagna, Italy, wrote "burn the eggs and spit on them" on her receipt following a polite request for her eggs to be cooked more thoroughly. The note was written by a teenage waiter, reportedly around 17 years old, after Ms Clara had let the matter drop despite her eggs arriving too runny for her liking. The incident highlights concerns about how service complaints can be met with hostility, and it escalated further when the restaurant appeared to mock the episode publicly rather than simply apologising.
After spotting the note, Ms Clara and her group demanded to see a manager, who eventually apologised and removed the waiter, who reportedly became visibly nervous when confronted. The restaurant later posted a TikTok video seemingly poking fun at the incident, alongside a poll asking followers whether the waiter should be forgiven and rehired, prompting divided reactions online. Some commenters, claiming restaurant industry experience, admitted to having spat on customers' food themselves, deepening Ms Clara's unease, while she also reported receiving death threats and racist abuse after the story went viral.
- Waiter wrote "burn and spit on eggs" note on tourist's receipt
- Restaurant later mocked the incident in a TikTok video and poll
- Tourist received death threats and racist abuse after going viral
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Maria Clara, a Brazilian tourist, was eating at a restaurant in the Romagna region of Italy when she asked staff to cook her eggs a bit more, as they had arrived too runny for her taste. Rather than acting on the request in the usual way, a teenage waiter wrote a hostile note on her receipt, telling kitchen staff to burn the eggs and spit on them, which Ms Clara later discovered.
The restaurant's manager apologised once the note was spotted and removed the waiter from the situation, but the establishment then posted about the episode on TikTok in a way that appeared to make light of it, including a poll asking followers whether the waiter should be forgiven and kept on. This drew a strong reaction online, with the story circulating widely on social media.
The case has drawn attention because it touches on how restaurants handle customer complaints, and on the risk of contamination or mistreatment of food when service disputes turn sour. It has also sparked wider debate after some people online claimed to have done similar things to customers' food themselves, while Ms Clara says the public attention has led to her receiving abuse and threats.