Westport Restaurant Gets Salty After Awkward Saucy Theft

Fred Melnyk owns Bootleg BBQ in Westport.  He invested his life savings into making the restaurant a brick and mortar after hitting lightning in a bottle with a traveling BBQ trailer about a year and a half ago.

Word has spread so quickly about the Westport restaurant that he's even been visited by television and movie star, Kevin James, who enjoyed a smash burger at Bootleg BBQ.

There's just one problem.  People keep stealing his table setups.  It happened again Thursday night at the BBQ.  Melnyk thinks what they really wanted was the unique, single salt and peppers shaker (which has both salt and pepper in one unit), but they also took a bottle of the Bootleg BBQ branded sauce, Texas Pete's hot sauce, chile habanero sauce, and vinegar.  Total cost is only roughly $30, said Melnyk, "but that's not the point."

Melnyk says he bought the salt and pepper shakers while on the road in Pennsylvania.  They only cost $17, but they aren't replaceable.  "Honestly, all I want back is the salt and pepper shaker."

The awkward part of this whole episode, says Melnyk, is that when he reviewed his video surveillance he realized he knew exactly who it was that took the items.

"They were the only ones who sat at that table that night.  I know exactly who they are.  I'm not looking to embarrass them, I just want my stuff back," says Melnyk.

"Restaurants are having a hard enough time as it is.  We shouldn't have to keep buying salt and pepper shakers because you think they'll look better at your house than at my restaurant."

"They were the only ones who sat at that table that night.  I know exactly who they are.  I'm not looking to embarrass them, I just want my stuff back," says Melnyk.