Isolated incident I used to avoid Denny's like the plague because every freaking black person I knew said they were racist. A ex gf of mine years ago asked me to go with her but I was hesitant because of what I heard and letting her know. She laughed at me and rightfully so. Man I cannot believe I've been missing out on such good food for so fucking long. Denny's is my favorite chain restaurant, I've never encountered a single problem of racism in them. Them employee's has always been overly friendly and attentive in my experience.
The shit that Denny's got pegged for can (and does) happen at restaurants in general. They just happened to get singled out for media coverage back in the day. Racist people or people who are just flat out too lazy to do their jobs can be found everywhere. I had the exact same experience multiple times at restaurants when I was younger. If I could tell right off the bat that I was going to get shitty service, I would just leave. I don't want people who can't even pretend to be polite to me preparing my food.
The one Dennys on City Line Ave in Philly (right side) (with a predominantly Black clientele and Black wait staff and cooks) does (or did) the same thing, but on weekends and late fri nights only. It was always packed to the hilt and l thought she was joking when she asked us (my husband and l) to pay first. It was an automatic requirement. My husband filled me in that's how they do it there on the weekends. I was appalled but reluctantly understood - plus he wanted his pancakes. I never gave it another thought until l read about this the other day. However, the difference with us was EVERYBODY who came in, paid up first.
Having worked at Denny's I know for a fact that dine-n-dash is something that every race does, I also know that the city the incident happened in (Federal Way, WA.) is kind of boonies-adjacent so backwards thinking isn't that surprising.
That's Washington state as a whole actually. Everyone thinks that because Seattle is seen as a "Progressive Thinking City" that the majority of the state is that way. It's not. If not for Seattle and the various military bases in and around the western side of the state, this would be a straight up Skinhead/Aryan Nation paradise on a lot of levels. Same with Oregon if not for Portland.
