A video of a woman in Atlanta, Georgia eating 48 oysters in one sitting has gone viral, being viewed 4.5 million times on TikTok in four days.
However, the poster has since faced questions over visibly leaving an $11 cash tip, which she contests. The restaurant’s general manager responded to the video, saying that while “people have been roasting this poor girl,” she “was nice.”
In the video, the woman explains that she is reluctantly going on a date with a man at Fontaine’s Oyster House, to the north-east of the city center, which she describes as having “the best f***ing oysters in the land.”
The viral clip then shows her indulging in plate after plate of a dozen oysters, until four are stacked on top of one another at the table. The video contains extensive profanity.
“When the fourth one came out, he [the date] was looking at me crazy,” the poster narrates. “I didn’t give a f***. I’m like, ‘baby, you invited me out. I’m going to eat.'”
She added: “They were so good, I just had to.”
She then proceeds to eat a plate of potatoes and crab cakes, before claiming that her date had left without paying the bill, which came to nearly $185 without a tip. She can then be seen placing $11 in cash on the receipt tray.
Many users were quick to comment on both the number of oysters she consumed and the relatively small tip she appeared to leave—though the restaurant said it was not uncommon for such a large number of the shellfish to be eaten by their guests.
“You eating 48 oysters, a whole meal and multiple drinks in that short window is INSANE,” one commented, while another wrote: “I’m sorry but 48 oysters as an appetizer got me screaming.”
“They brought you your weight in oysters and you left that skinny a** tip,” a further TikToker said. “Shame on you sister.”
However, another responded: “Y’all telling her what to do with HER money? She can tip however much she pleases.”
In response to one of the comments, the poster released another video, which has been viewed 1.9 million times in three days, showing the receipt including an additional $15 tip, which she said she paid by card. The video may also contain some swearing.
“People have been roasting this poor girl,” Kelcey Flanagan, the oyster bar’s manager, told Rolling Stone magazine. “You know, it comes out in the wash. Some people tip great, some people, it’s regular, but she was nice. I just hope she’s not getting too much flak.”
She added that eating that number of oysters was “nothing new for us,” noting that two women had once ordered six lots of a dozen oysters each, and during an oyster eating competition, one put away 15 plates of the shellfish.
“I will say, it had been a minute since I had a single female eat that many,” Flanagan told the magazine. “But then, you know, she was eating crackers and things like that. But yeah, she put it away. It’s pretty impressive.”
She also said that the woman’s date had returned after she had paid the bill, and that they left. Newsweek approached the TikTok poster via email for comment on Sunday.