SC eatery takes jab at rude customers with sign directing them to Wendy’s. It goes viral

Paddi Childers was direct when she posted a sign on the door of her Longs restaurant letting people know that if diners were in a hurry for food, that this was not the place for them.

The owner of Salt Water Grille, 7036 S. Highway 90, suggested for a quicker meal, that a Wendy’s was just down the street.

It was meant to be a joke, Childers said, but her candidness about issues with complaining and picky customers was posted on social media and soon went viral, receiving more than 37,000 likes, 2,000 comments and nearly 2,000 shares.

The photo of the sign was originally posted on the Bitchy Waiter’s Facebook page, which is maintained by a blogger who describes himself as “the voice of servers.”

Childers said anyone who waits tables or operates a restaurant can relate. The sign stemmed from people who were “just griping and complaining on a Friday night.”

Childers said other than the buffet, everything is cooked to order at the seafood and steak restaurant. “So sometimes it does take a while,” she said.

She said the restaurant is not tourist driven, although there are a few tourists that do dine there. Mostly the customers that do come in are locals and Childers considers them “like family.”

“This is a mom-and-pop restaurant outside Myrtle Beach,” Children said. “I sure didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

But she wants people to understand that the servers and cooks are doing the best that they can, especially on busy nights such as Fridays.

The sign points out that “everybody in Horry County cannot eat between 5-8 on Friday night. Please don’t expect speedy service doing those hours.”

Childers isn’t planning on changing her mind about the sign, although it’s no longer posted on the door.

“We don’t get it right every time,” Childers said, “but we try.”