Mystery Diners

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Mystery Diners is an American reality television series on the Food Network. The series, hosted by Charles Stiles, debuted on May 25, 2012. Stiles is the owner of California-based Business Evaluation Services and Mystery Shopper Services.

Video Mystery Diners

Authenticity

A disclaimer at the end of the credits reads, "The people and events depicted in this program are real. Certain events may have been re-enacted for dramatic purposes."

Television reviewer Ben Pobjie wrote, "Mystery Diners has achieved enormous success on SBS Food Network despite making no attempt whatsoever to appear convincing. This show, which purports to "expose" employees of restaurants ripping off their employers, contains so many implausible scenarios, inept actors and transparently fake denouements that it's really quite refreshing."

Maps Mystery Diners

Plot

The show focuses on the Mystery Diners, an organization that at the request of certain owners go undercover at specific restaurants and set up undercover stings and unseen surveillance cameras to catch misbehaving restaurant employees in the act.

Beginning in Season 9, Mystery Diners made changes to its format including the addition of private investigators, new technology, new graphics and opening credits, and advanced equipment. In the opening sequence, Stiles narrates the changes were made on the pretext that restaurant staff have grown more aware of the show and the company, and became more savvy in their scams.

The Consultation

Charles greets the owners with his signature, "Charles Stiles, Mystery Diners" at the beginning of the episode. He and one of his fellow Mystery Diners meet with the owner(s) at their restaurant to discuss the problem with the restaurant and Charles learns about possible suspects. Charles then tells the owner that his team will come in after hours to wire the restaurant with hidden cameras and microphones. The narrator gives details of where the hidden cameras and microphones have been set up and also mentions which Mystery Diners will be going undercover as a new staff member or a customer.

The Sting

Charles and the owner(s) operate from a nearby control room using the elaborate CCTV screens and audio links which allow them to see and hear what goes on in the restaurant during regular operations. Staff members are monitored and their activities recorded, including aurally.

Mystery Diners are deployed and all are 'wired up' with a two-way comms link to the control rooms as set up by Charles and his team:

Usually one undercover team member (who may have already spent a number of days at the establishment in advance of the sting) is introduced as a trainee waiter to the staff by the owner(s). The owners then retire to the control room to watch events unfold. Although the owner(s) are usually the contact, this individual can be acting on behalf of the owners.
Others on the team appear as regular diners, charting the progress of service and quality of the food, and generally observing the staff to help reveal what goes on during the restaurant's regular operations.

From Season 9, Charles has also brought in one of his private investigators who shows the owner information he has found while doing background checks on the employees and details that are connected to any illegal activities.

The Confrontation

After seeing enough, the owner goes down and rounds up the staff members responsible for the problems and brings them to the control room to be confronted by Charles Stiles, an event which usually ends with those staff members getting fired. Otherwise innocent staff members who prove to have been manipulated by the troublesome staff member are, however, normally spared by the owners. There are also cases in which the staff member is merely reprimanded or in some cases quits (often by storming out).

Four Months Later / Restaurant Update

In the final part of the show, the narrator tells the viewers what has happened in the aftermath of the recording to the former employees, the remaining employees, and anyone else that was involved, as well as reporting on the current status of the restaurant. A graphic at the end of each episode states "Certain events may have been re-enacted for dramatic purposes."

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Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

Season 2 (2012-13)

Season 3 (2013)

Season 4 (2013)

Season 5 (2014)

Season 6 (2014)

Season 7 (2014)

Season 8 (2014-15)

Season 9 (2015)

Season 10 (2015)

Season 11 (2015-2016)