The Internet Is Losing It Over This Drunken NYC Dumpling Heist

A cringe-worthy night after a few too many adult beverages is basically a rite of passage. Many of us over 21 who have chosen to imbibe can relate to the pain of waking up the next morning and remembering something totally embarrassing, but this usually means karaoke gone awry, unfortunate dance moves, or accidentally over-sharing to your crush. It's far less relatable to drink too much and break into the kitchen of a restaurant to "cook" yourself some stolen food.

The internet — at least the food-focused corner of it, anyway — broke when one of New York City's favorite Chinese restaurants posted footage of two inebriated people trespassing into their kitchen to yuk it up while attempting to make themselves some dumplings (via Instagram). First of all, you have the fact that Xi'an Famous Foods is one of the hottest restaurants for Chinese cuisine, both literally — their famous noodles are cooked in chili oil — and figuratively — lines can get long at this popular staple. Then you have the fact that two people would so brazenly waltz into a commercial kitchen and feel entitled to help themselves to whatever they want. This is never a good look, but it's especially questionable after this past year, with the pandemic making it so difficult for restaurants to survive. Finally, there's the bumbling #fail on the part of these trespassers when it comes to actually being able to cook anything at all. This is a perfect mix of a popular restaurant, a little bit of crime, and a dash of comedy.

Xi'an Famous Foods played into this comedy, too, writing on its Instagram post that the team has a good sense of humor. In fact, the very gracious way that Xi'an is handling this drunken dumpling heist is why we have so much footage to shake our heads and laugh at.

According to Xi'an's Instagram and Facebook posts, the two unidentified people were able to enter one of the location's kitchens at 12:30 a.m. on July 11 when a power failure temporarily disengaged the main door's lock. Xi'an staff found a mess the next morning, watched footage from the kitchen camera to see what happened, and posted it on YouTube. There is even some dialogue transcribed with Xi'an owner and CEO Jason Wang's hilarious commentary in parentheses (via FoodBeast). One highlight captures this drunken duo's lack of cooking skills. When one person tells their accomplice they're "frying things," Wang's response points out, "no...that's cold water you are dipping into."

According to the New York Post, Xi'an is flexing both humor and mercy. Instead of pressing charges, even though Xi'an had to close for an entire day to make sure the kitchen was clean and safe to serve the public again, the restaurant merely asked for compensation for the stolen food and video apologies so the perps could be held accountable. So far, Xi'an updated on Instagram, the pair has paid up and one person emailed an apology, but we're still waiting on those filmed apologies.