Caught on video: Hungry trespassers break into popular NYC dumpling, noodle restaurant

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Hungry trespassers break into popular NYC dumpling restaurant

Employees at the Xi'an Famous Foods on 8th Avenue discovered two people broke in and tried to cook dumplings overnight.

CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) -- The owners of a popular dumpling and noodle restaurant in New York City were puzzled when they discovered food scattered around the kitchen on Sunday.

Employees at the Xi'an Famous Foods on 8th Avenue had left the store clean the night before, so they took a look at their security cameras to see what happened.

The video showed two apparently tipsy trespassers enter the store overnight when an electronic lock unexpectedly disengaged due to a temporary power failure of the door mechanism.

The derelict duo quickly concluded that because the door was unlocked, they were doing no wrong.

"Are we gonna get in trouble?" one woman said on the video.

"They should've locked it so no," the other responded.

The pair apparently attempted to cook dumplings before eventually leaving.

As a result, the store closed to the public Sunday so they could perform a thorough cleaning and throw out all the affected food.

CEO Jason Wang did not file a police report and gave the intruders a chance to come forward.

"We haven't filed a police report yet, and wanted to provide you with a chance to fix your momentary lapse in judgement (and sobriety apparently)," the restaurant wrote on their Facebook page. "If you do reach out soon, there's no hard feelings, and you can continue to enjoy XFF in the future (when we are open, and pay for your food), and this will just be a funny story to tell your friends."

Since then, the women came forward Monday night and apologized for their behavior and offered to pay for all damages.

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