Downtown Myrtle Beach restaurants want to hold your ID and credit card while you dine

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Some restaurants in downtown Myrtle Beach have a new policy — hand over your ID and credit card while you sit down and eat. 

The way it works: customers walk in and give the waitstaff their ID and credit card before they are even seated. 

RipTydz and Beach House Bar and Grill are two downtown restaurants that have implemented this policy. 

Tourists and residents said they are told the reason is because of an uptick in dine and dash situations. 

News13 spoke with several visitors who are outraged by the new policy. They say that the waitstaff are putting their valuable cards into pockets and fanny packs. Restaurant goers are concerned they may fall out or get lost. 

Most customers agree that dine and dash situations are disappointing and hard to handle, but restaurant goers News13 spoke with said that there has to be a better way. 

“If they’re afraid of it, they can say, okay, you can order your food and you have to pay for your food before you get the food,” vacationer Julius Bryant said. “I think that’s a way to do it, and it’s easy to do, and it’s not that difficult to implement.”

Visitors and tourists said that besides their items getting lost, they also worry about identity theft, misuse and security risks. 

Bryant said that the policy is not fair to those who do not carry these items or cannot give them away. 

“I run a group home with adults with disabilities and they don’t carry credit cards, and I can’t give their IDs out to anybody but medical personnel,” Bryant said. “For me to give up their information is absolutely ludicrous.”

Customers said this new policy is deterring them from dining at these restaurants. 

“Now that I’ve heard this policy, absolutely, we will not go,” Bryant said.  “If you’re gonna be a restaurant, you are unfortunately gonna have people that are gonna be dishonest and dine and dash. You have to find better ways to not punish the 99.9% of the people that are faithful paying customers to your restaurant.”

News13 reached out to Beach House Bar and Grill, which said it has had this policy in place for six months. It said it is not due to dine and dash situations. 

News13 also reached out to RipTydz, which said their policy is most likely for the summer season only, and it is also due to dine and dash situations.