# Food Network Mystery Diners, Spoilers OK



## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Has anyone watched this new show?

Basically they hide cameras inside restaurants that suspect employees of some sort of criminal acts and catch them.

Here are two summaries from the guide:

A pub owner in Los Angeles suspects that one of her bartenders might be overpouring for customers, giving away too many free drinks and overtipping himself. To find out, she calls in the Mystery Diners, who outfit the bar with hidden cameras and go in undercover to see what is really happening when the boss is away. 


When the owner of The Groves Bar & Grill becomes concerned over a large loss in food and supplies, the Mystery Diners go undercover with hidden cameras as new employees and customers, suspecting that a recently hired chef may be plotting more than just the items on the menu.


---

I saw The Groves Bar & Grill episode, and it was crazy that the cook was using the bar, food, and supplies to run his own catering service. 

But how do they get permission to show his face on TV? Don't you have to sign a waiver? Who in their right mind would agree to be on TV if you got caught stealing from your employer?

Or is this some sort of scripted show under the guise of being real?


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## JolDC (Dec 21, 2001)

Donbadabon said:


> Has anyone watched this new show?
> 
> I saw The Groves Bar & Grill episode, and it was crazy that the cook was using the bar, food, and supplies to run his own catering service.
> 
> ...


Sadly after the network's similar Restaurant Stakeout was found to be partially faked, I have to be skeptical here too.

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/food_network/2012_Mar_27_restaurant-stakeout-fake


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

I watched the same episode last night and wondered the same thing. David was not the sharpest tool in the shed if he thought what he was doing would go undetected!


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## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

JolDC said:


> Sadly after the network's similar Restaurant Stakeout was found to be partially faked, I have to be skeptical here too.
> 
> http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/food_network/2012_Mar_27_restaurant-stakeout-fake


Ah geez!  Figures.

I've only watched the 'Groves' episode so far and enjoyed it. I sooooo wanted that guy to be prosecuted.

Have SP and will continue to watch for now. I hate to think that it could be partially, or totally, fake too but I guess that's what sells, eh? blech


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## jinisultan (May 26, 2012)

Sooooooooooooooo disappointed in food network they r ruining their brand w these fake shows. I just watched the episode that aired tonight hoping after watching the first episode I watched, that the first obviously fake episode. But sadly its fake again the owners nephew is overly goofy and the waitresses are beyond bad actresses. Why on earth do they keep putting this crap on air? UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This SUCKS!! They jcked up my friday line up ::down:


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## tzikeh (Jun 6, 2003)

It's so clearly false. When the waitresses were talking about going out, one of them said "Hey, let's all go out tonight to that place we always go to after work!" Nobody talks that way--she would have said "Let's go to The Bongo Room!" or "Let's go to Crew!" The reason that she had to say that ridiculous sentence is that they couldn't legally use the name of another establishment. Same with "the Japanese beer" -- never mentioned the name. The least they could have done was make up a name for the beer.

Ridiculous and so poorly executed.


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## Jtolls (May 26, 2012)

Watched The Groves episode tonight. Have you seen this guy's blog? He is completely off his rocker. And he doesn't even see that he's done anything wrong! The world in 2012 boggles the mind.


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

I'm confused. Is "Mystery Diners" the same show as the one mentioned in the article -- "Restaurant Stakeout"? Or are we just assuming the former is the same fakery as the latter due to the same subject matter? 

The article reveals incredible producer deception for "Restaurant Stakeout" and because of that I would never watch it. That said, I really enjoyed "Mystery Diners", and want to continue watching it -- with a bit more skepticism now, I guess. BTW - does anyone know if "chef" David was ever prosecuted??


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

I've watched both shows. Mystery Diners seems the same to me, just with nicer hosts than the ass on Restaurant Stakeout. <shrug>


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## Jtolls (May 26, 2012)

I don't think he was prosecuted, as he implies he is still working in the restaurant industry. Only an idiot would hire him to work in a restaurant with a criminal background of already stealing from another one. Check out this nutso on his blogspot account. Chef Dave's Italian Eats.



dbranco said:


> I'm confused. Is "Mystery Diners" the same show as the one mentioned in the article -- "Restaurant Stakeout"? Or are we just assuming the former is the same fakery as the latter due to the same subject matter?
> 
> The article reveals incredible producer deception for "Restaurant Stakeout" and because of that I would never watch it. That said, I really enjoyed "Mystery Diners", and want to continue watching it -- with a bit more skepticism now, I guess. BTW - does anyone know if "chef" David was ever prosecuted??


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I'm glad I came across this thread because I was going to watch but I won't now.


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Jtolls said:


> his blogspot account. Chef Dave's Italian Eats.


There is something definitely *off* with this show. And him. He says on his blog

"Second of all, yes this happened about four months ago when I quit The Groves (for the record I QUIT I wasn't fired). I was so pissed that night, had I not needed my last check so much I never would have signed that stupid release. They had me over a barrel and since then I have been trying to get the network to not air that special. Sadly the little guy without a lawyer doesn't have much of a shot getting anything done against a big time corporation. "

That makes no sense to me at all. He seems to be saying they weren't going to give him his paycheck if he didn't sign the release. Obviously they couldn't do that. So he is either completely looney tunes, or he is still trying to make the fakery look real.


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## RichardHead (Nov 17, 2003)

I vote for 'looney tunes."

TV editing can make someone look bad but 'Chef Dave' was obviously doing wrong.


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## Bellingham_Bob (May 27, 2012)

Hi all Signed up just to post after searching Chef David "Mystery Diners" and this came up. How can Food Network run this show? Fake? I can't post links due to my post count so I will post urls with dotcom (replace with .com)

After looking up the whois for chefdaviditalianeats dotcom which forwards to the blog referred to in the other post, I looked up the "Disjointed Productions LLC" from that whois and landed on his website - disjointedproductionsllc dotcom and facebook - facebook dotcom/pages/DisJointed-Productions-LLC/218621271539335

The guy in the video sure looks and sounds like "Chef David" but his facebook or website doesn't mention his "catering", just his promotional video services. 

Maybe he is a chef on the side, I find it strange the blog was created 3 months ago after the filming was done.

This is all just my opinion. Is this just me? Seemed all scripted to me


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## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

IIRC, his catering business went down the tubes after he got the ax and was unable to steal food and equipment from his (former) boss. I seem to recall a little blurb at the end of that ep that he was 'out of business', so to speak, after getting fired.

No doubt, and since he seems to have no remorse whatsoever, he's still putting himself out there trying to get himself back in business.


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## domokun (May 28, 2012)

just watched this a couple of days ago, and i definitely knew some things were off. 1. how can they air something like this? 2. it all seemed scripted 3. some of the "acting" of horrible 4. will not watch it again. thank god i found this forum to confirm that mystery diners is a fake!!


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## rjchero (Jun 2, 2012)

I was so insulted after watching the show. Who do the producers think they are fooling? The episode about the bar and the one employee having friends in after hours and undercharging male customers/pocketing cash was the phoniest, poorly acted crap I have ever seen. Every line bordered on ridiculous. She whispers "I'm going to take good care of you" and then five friends miraculously walk in all together after she closes the bar. What? Did they drive a bus? What's the chance of them all being together when she called and then getting into one vehicle? And their gestures when they weren't picked up by the mic were so staged and dramatic. It made for a good laugh, but I thought FN was classier than that.


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## rjchero (Jun 2, 2012)

Agreed!!!!


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## rjchero (Jun 2, 2012)

Bellingham_Bob said:


> This is all just my opinion. Is this just me? Seemed all scripted to me


Not just you, BB. So scripted, and poorly done at that!


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## rjchero (Jun 2, 2012)

tzikeh said:


> It's so clearly false. When the waitresses were talking about going out, one of them said "Hey, let's all go out tonight to that place we always go to after work!" Nobody talks that way
> 
> Ridiculous and so poorly executed.


Agreed!

I feel insulted that the producers would give FN viewers this crap. Don't you?


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## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

Yesterday I watched the most recent ep that I had - the one with the bartender giving away liquor, drinking OTJ (totally illegal in that state), pocketing money from customers, not ringing up sales, and having a party with her friends there, after closing the restaurant.

I think I'm totally starting to get that it's fake now. The owner said that she was losing $4,000 PER MONTH, in liquor, and figured this girl was probably the culprit (although she had no idea the extent to which the girl was screwing off). 

Now, how many months of losing $4,00 per does it take to do something about it? The impression I got was that this was going on for a while. Seems to me it would take only ONE month of that to be on the case, unless I had money coming out my caboose (which she definitely did NOT seem to have). 

Then it's always the same thing - the disgruntled employee gets all in her case about the accusations, even though s/he is seeing it all on video, like the boss was the one in the wrong. Later they apologize (ha! meaningless) and go on with their life. Nobody seems to prosecute these illegal behaviors and thievery. Really? I'd have your sorry ass in jail in a NY minute.


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## D3147 (Aug 7, 2012)

I believe that all these "reality" shows are nothing but theater. One shown on True TV used MY business to stage one of their shows. Total fantasy spun as reality. When challenged, they called what they do ... "Scripted Reality." 

Also heard recently that House Hunters is fabricated. I guess real life is just too boring, so networks have to spice it up with fake conflict and content.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

pmyers said:


> I'm glad I came across this thread because I was going to watch but I won't now.


LOL...I just stumbled across this show on a recomendation and immediatly thought it was fake (just like the other show mentioned here) so I came here to double check....and I come across a quote from myself, to not watch! I feel like Marty McFly right now!


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