Boomer Dad Does the Unexpected in Restaurant When It’s Time To Pay the Bill – ryan

A generous dad had the most-unexpected reaction when he spotted his daughter’s fiance sneakily trying to pay for dinner.

Filmmaker Tanya Hoshi had her camera ready when her partner, Abhi, decided he wanted to foot the bill. ” We were having our final dinner together as a family before my fiance left to see his family in India for three weeks,” Hoshi told Newsweek.

However, Abhi was acutely aware that that was something Hoshi’s father would insist on doing himself, so had to be careful.

The idea of a parent paying for their adult child’s meal isn’t entirely uncommon. In 2022, a YouGov survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 61 percent of respondents felt that, if adult children are out to eat at a restaurant with their parents, the latter should pay the bill.

By contrast, 30 percent felt the bill should be split, while just 9 percent were in favor of the now-adult child paying. Hoshi’s dad takes that idea to the extreme, though.

“My dad has a reputation for being very friendly and takes a lot of joy in being able to treat others, whether it’s buying them food or generously tipping servers for meals, especially if they’re students,” Hoshi said.

“He has always been this way, not only with family but also with anyone we go out with. I have an entire album of videos showing my dad fighting to pay the bill.”

Unfortunately, in Abhi, Hoshi has found a future husband who shares that enthusiasm for footing the bill. “My fiance is a copy of my dad when it comes to paying the restaurant bill,” she said. “He does the same with both his friends and mine when we go out. In fact, when he met my friends for the very first time when we were dating, he treated them all to a meal. His belief is that money is temporary, moments are forever.”

Not that Hoshi is complaining, of course. “At the end of the day, I get to eat good food and never pay,” she said. It did lead to an unusual incident during their most-recent family meal together, where Abhi was determined to pick up the tab.

“My dad has treated our family to so many meals, and my fiance simply wants to return the favor,” Hoshi said. “He knows my dad deserves to be spoiled once in a while, too.”

So, when Abhi stood up as they were coming to the end of their meal, Hoshi knew to have her camera ready to see how her dad would react.

“He had hatched the plan to sneak off and pay from the moment we arrived at the restaurant,” Hoshi said. “He tried to pretend he was using the washroom, but on his way, he headed toward the counter to pay instead.”

Hoshi’s dad was one step ahead, though. “My dad knew my fiance had a reputation for paying the bill without anyone knowing about it, so he was on guard,” Hoshi said.

Even she could not have predicted what would come next. As Abhi went to pay, Hoshi’s dad hurriedly got out of his seat and dashed across the restaurant to where her fiance was trying to settle up.

Hoshi knew her dad liked to pay the bill, but she never knew he liked it this much. “I didn’t think my dad would run across the restaurant the way he did,” she said. “That definitely took me and my mom by surprise.”

Hoshi got an even-bigger surprise when she posted the clip to her Instagram, @tanyahoshi, and TikTok, @hoshimediafilms. It has been viewed over 19.1 million times on the latter.

“I think it’s been popular because so many people can relate to this culture of fighting to pay the bill,” Hoshi said. “My mom and I were laughing so much, and the entire restaurant was staring at us, but we weren’t phased since this happens so often.”

The story has a happy ending, too. Hoshi’s dad paid the bill.

Correction, 04/10/25, 5:40 a.m. ET: This article was updated to remove previous references to Abhi as a “Abdi.”