Karen's Diner Sheffield: The rules you need to know, after teenager is thrown out for 'ruining it'

The popular restaurant on Suffolk Road, at the edge of the city centre, has spawned several viral videos showing staff in character being outrageously rude to customers, who thankfully know what to expect and have headed there for the unique experience.

But things recently turned sour at the Manchester branch, in Prestwich, where a 17-year-old and his family were ejected for ‘body shaming’. A video shared online shows the teenager calling a waiter there a ‘w***e’ under his breath, before being told by her not to mumble it ‘because you’re a p***y’. He says it again and she replies ‘you can’t pronunciate (sic), that's embarrassing’.

In the world of Karen’s Diner, where almost anything goes, this appears to be a fairly unremarkable exchange – until the point at which the waiter asks his age and he responds ‘how old are you, you fat s**g?’.

She approaches another member of staff before returning to the table and telling them: “You can’t call me fat, so you’re out, all of you. It’s in the rules.”

The family were reportedly told to pay the £25 drinks bill and leave as they had broken the house rules which state that ‘no body shaming’ is allowed.

The teenager has since admitted he’s ‘not proud’ of what he said but asked why staff ‘can give (abuse) but can’t take it’. His family have said they didn’t have time to read the rules, saying ‘they just threw them at us and it was a really loud atmosphere’.

What has Karen’s Diner said after family were ejected for breaking rules?

Karen’s Diner said in response: “Karen's Diners will not condone seriously offensive abuse either 'given' (which can be grounds for dismissal as all our staff are obliged to work within strict behavioural guidelines) or 'take it' as we will always take every stance to protect our staff from unacceptable behaviour. It is sad that a minority of customers need reminding as to how to behave.”

The Karen’s Diner website sets out the house rules which apply at all its restaurants, saying they are necessary to ‘maintain a shred of sanity here’. It makes clear that breaking those rules, imposed to ensure staff and customers feel as safe as possible, will result in the table being asked to pay the bill, leave the venue and never return.

The website adds: “Just sit down, shut up, eat your food and bring on the banter.”

What are the house rules at Karen’s Diner restaurants?

The rules state:

- No racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist comments or slurs will be tolerated;

- No body shaming;

- No sexual harassment;

-Any damage or vandalism of the venue will lead to instant removal from the venue. (Charges may also apply);

- Keep your food and drink on your tables, don't throw them, its not fun.

It is not known whether anyone has fallen foul of these rules and been ejected from the Sheffield branch but if they have that has not stopped it achieving an impressive 4.4-star rating on Google reviews.