Podcast Summary: The Bert Show

Episode: Vault: Shocking Food Tampering Stories from Restaurant Workers
Date: March 30, 2026

Overview

This Bert Show “Vault” episode dives into the shocking, sometimes stomach-churning world of food tampering, as confessed by restaurant workers and callers. Inspired by viral videos of food sabotage at a Domino’s in North Carolina, Bert, Mike Borlo, and various callers candidly discuss real-life stories from the food industry. The segment highlights just how far some disgruntled or mischievous employees have gone when handling customer orders, with the cast balancing revulsion with dark humor. Throughout, a message emerges: be nice to your restaurant staff—or you might leave with more than you ordered.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Domino’s Incident and Viral Videos

(00:47–03:56)

• Bob Garfield sets the stage by referencing infamous videos from a North Carolina Domino’s in which employees blatantly tampered with food as a prank on their last day.
  • One male employee is seen putting cheese up his nose, farting on salami, handling food with unwashed hands, and even using a dish towel inappropriately before washing dishes.
  • The female employee holds the camera and narrates the events with a disturbing level of casualness.
• Bob frames the discussion: “I'm wondering if this is an isolated incident or not ... those that worked in fast food ... would confess to us that this might happen a little bit more than you think.” (01:17–01:22)
• “The video is up on our website right now ... some of them are kind of graphic ...” (02:28–02:52, Bob Garfield)

Restaurant Workers' Confessions: Call-Ins

(04:07–09:16)

• A Chick-fil-A worker shares how a friend was fired after stirring soup with his genitals, caught later on security tape:
  • “My friend actually got fired because he stirred the soup with his tally whacker. ... anyway, he got called into the manager's office ... they were reviewing tapes and they saw it.” (04:07–04:43, Male Caller)
• Mike Borlo jokes, “If you mess with Chick-fil-A, not only do you get fired, but you go to hell.” (04:49)
• Jake, a Waffle House worker, admits to rubbing pus from a leaking sore onto a customer’s waffle after being treated rudely:
  • “I used to have an open spot that leaked a lot of pus and I rubbed it all over somebody's waffle because they were being jerk [to me] and they sit there and ate it.” (05:36–05:47)
• Another caller recounts a co-worker at a pizza chain who’d chew up meat and cheese, spit it onto pizzas if a customer was rude.
  • “You can pop a handful in your mouth, chew it up, get it right back out on the pizza ... my advice to everybody is ... be nice.” (06:29–07:01)

The Severity of Food Tampering: Criminal Consequences

(07:06–07:50)

• A hotel worker describes a case where a colleague was caught on security camera urinating in the coffee; the perpetrator ended up serving 20 years in prison:
  • “He had peed in the coffee. Security tape caught it ... Hillsborough county arrested him ... it is basically ... attempted murder ... he got ... 20 years in Florida for doing this.” (07:06–07:48, Male Caller)
• Bob and the team express shock and discuss the severity of such acts.

More Behind-the-Scenes Gross-Outs and Final Thoughts

(07:52–08:39, 08:50–09:52)

• Another Waffle House story: an angry cook with burnt, blistered hands deliberately contaminates a customer’s meal for repeatedly correcting orders:
  • “He definitely took off his gloves and just put his fluids all in his food and then watched him eat it.” (07:54–08:35)
• The hosts recount details from the viral Domino’s videos: “Our manager is unaware ... she is back in the back reading a newspaper ... while we're up here ... putting snot in people's food ... now it's ready to be shipped...” (08:50–09:16)
• The crew leans into humor and disgust about what they'd rather find in their food (such as roaches over what they’ve just heard).
  • “Like, I want a roach.” (09:38, Mike Borlo)
  • “I want a roach pooping on my crouton.” (09:41, Mike Borlo)
  • “Seriously. Mold in the ice chest.” (09:45, Mike Borlo)
  • “I will climb in there and drink my soda from the bottom of the ice machine.” (09:48, Mike Borlo)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you eat takeaway food, you have eaten someone else's pubis."
  — Mike Borlo (01:47)

• “I never saw that in four years. Not from anybody.”
  — Bob Garfield, denying witnessing food sabotage at Taco Bell (02:01–02:14)

• “Our manager is unaware ... while we’re up here ... putting snot in people's food. Now it’s ready to be shipped to some unlucky customer.”
  — Domino’s Worker (08:50–09:16, quoted from viral video)

• "If you mess with Chick-fil-A, not only do you get fired, but you go to hell."
  — Mike Borlo (04:49)

• “He got ... 20 years in Florida for doing this because it is a second degree felony. It's almost the same as attempted murder in the eyes of the DA down there.”
  — Unidentified Male Caller (07:46–07:48)

• “The last shocking call would have been a guy full releasing on a pizza.”
  — Bob Garfield (09:19–09:26)

Episode Timeline

• 00:47–01:22 — Domino’s North Carolina food tampering video and initial discussion
• 01:22–02:55 — Is food tampering more common than we think? Bob shares Taco Bell experience, mentions surveillance
• 02:55–03:56 — Details from the infamous Domino’s video: boogers, bodily functions, and YouTube posting
• 04:07–04:43 — Chick-fil-A “tally whacker in the soup” call-in
• 05:36–05:47 — Waffle House worker's “pus on the waffle” confession
• 06:29–07:01 — Pizza chain worker “chewed up toppings” story
• 07:06–07:48 — Felony food tampering: hotel worker urinated in coffee, caught, sentenced
• 07:54–08:35 — Waffle House cook with burnt hands contaminates food out of anger
• 08:50–09:16 — More Domino’s video narration: “manager is unaware ... putting snot in people’s food”
• 09:40–09:48 — Hosts riff on preferring roaches or mold to these horror stories

Takeaways

• Fast-food and restaurant food tampering, while rare in most people’s experience, is a real and occasionally criminal problem, sometimes caught on video.
• Many of the more egregious incidents involve retaliation against rude customers; the repeated advice: “Be nice to your service workers!”
• The team’s mix of gallows humor and disgust serves as both comic relief and a stark warning about “secret ingredients.”

Final Note

This episode stands out for its unfiltered honesty and shocking anecdotes, delivered with the signature irreverence of The Bert Show cast. If you value your peace of mind, you may not want to listen before your next restaurant meal!