MCALLEN – Some Rio Grande Valley restaurant owners are warning the public about a person walking into their restaurant, dining and then leaving without paying.

In McAllen, employees at one restaurant said the “dine and dash” suspect racked up a tab close to $300. And in Edinburg, an employee said the man came in and sat with friends before leaving.

Both employees had similar stories.

Abel Guillen, the general manager of Buffalo Wings and Rings in Edinburg, described the suspect as, “Dark-skinned man with a lazy eye, heavy set.”

“He was 5’7, African American, bald, about 300 pounds,” a McAllen restaurant employee said.

The McAllen employee said the man came in with a large party and throughout the night it trickled down to him. He offered to pay the tab in a different way.

“That he had only one method of payment which we didn’t accept, which was like a Google pay, Apple pay. The gentleman says he would go to his hotel. They exchanged information and he would come back,” the employee said.

The fraudulent customer didn’t come back. Instead, he was spotted in Edinburg at Buffalo Wings and Rings the same week. Guillen said he was sitting next to the front door.

“He got up to use the phone and he said something like, ‘Hey I can’t hear you, hold on real quick.’ So when he went outside, my host thought well he’s probably trying to get away from the noise, the music, what have you. And she was looking at him through our glass doors and he got in a car and took off,” he said.

Guillen and others said it’s more than just losing the money.

“This is what we survive on and for somebody to come and think they can do that. We have families, we have bills, we (have) mouths to feed. And this gentleman can just think he can come in and not pay his tab,” the McAllen restaurant employee said.

“They rob us, they rob them. It affects everybody on a bottom line cost and it affects every body’s employment,” Guillen said

They both want to warn other owners to be on the lookout.

The McAllen employee did file a police report. McAllen Public Information Officer Joel Morales said the department is looking into the cases.

The employee said he wants others to come forward and seek justice.