Fun on Friday: Florida Man…

Florida man…

Uh oh! You know something good is coming, right?

Here it is — Florida man refuses to pay for gold-plated steak he didn’t order, Salt Bae calls cops

What in the…what?

So, Florida man – aka Duane Miranda – visited the Miami location of Nusr-Et steakhouse. This is a chain of upscale restaurants owned by social media celebrity Salt Bae. Mr. Bae (aka Nusret Gökç) has made an appearance in Fun on Friday before. You’ll recall Bayern Munich soccer star Franck Ribéry struck back at detractors who went after him on social media because he had the audacity to post a video of himself eating a steak covered in 24-karat gold at the Dubai location of Nusr-Et.

Eating 24-karat gold steak is kind of a thing at Bae’s restaurants.

Anyway, Miranda went to this high-end steakhouse. Now, let’s pause for a moment here. Nusr-Et is not exactly your budget steak joint. It’s not Texas Roadhouse. You walk through the doors knowing you’re going to lay down some cash. On top of that, this is a “see and be seen kind of place.” Folks visit the restaurant to take selfies and show the world that they have lots of cash to blow on expensive steaks. So, you have to think Miranda knew what he was walking into, right?

But Miranda balked when he got the bill of $5,012.28 bill for his six-person dinner party.

Apparently, $1,000 gold-wrapped steaks and a $1,000 gold covered rack of lamb were a bit much. I mean, he was good with Copacabana Mule ($30), two Tito’s martinis ($56), a Casamigos Reposada tequila ($27), two Glenfiddich 12-Year-Old scotches ($52), two Grey Goose martinis ($56), $50 sea bass, $35 beef tartare appetizers, $25 baklava one Don Julio Blanco tequila ($25), one bottle of 2017 Caymus Cabernet ($275) and five bottles of water ($50). But the steaks went a penny too far.

Miranda told the Miami Herald that he felt “victimized.”

“I think they’re out to victimize their customers,” Miranda said. “It’s a bait-and-switch.”

Miranda claims he ordered the budget versions of the steak and lamb, priced at $275 and $210 respectively. He said they absolutely did not order the “golden option.”

Here’s where things get a little hazy. You see, they ate the golden option. Miranda said he thought it was part of the “normal presentation” for their order.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t consider steak wrapped in 24-karat gold a “normal presentation.” I mean, maybe he should have questioned that before digging in?

Well, when the bill came, Miranda demanded that the server remove the upcharge for the gold. The server called the cops. After spending a little time with the boys in blue, Miranda ponied up.

In a Yelp review, Miranda called Salt Bae a “communist-loving piece of crap.”

Yikes. This seems a little harsh, especially coming from the guy who didn’t want to pay his bill.

Now, as I was reading this account, I was thinking that maybe the prices weren’t on the menu. I’ve been to a few restaurants like that. The theory is basically if you need to know the price, you can’t afford to eat here. If that were the case here, then one could forgive Miranda being a little confused. But then I came across this line in the Miami Herald story.

The restaurant says all of its prices are clearly marked on its menus and provided a copy to prove it.”

Oops. Sorry, Florida man.

There’s a lesson here – but I’m not sure what it is.

One takeaway is that wrapping something in 24-karat gold drastically increases its price. That’s because gold has inherent value. This is why people want gold.

Now, between you and me, I think there are better ways to get gold than by going to an overpriced restaurant in Miami. I’d just call a SchiffGold precious metals specialist. The social media play won’t be as good. But I think you’ll be better off in the long run.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.