‘Incredibly dangerous’: Psychologist slams rude Karen’s Diner concept

The “damage could be done” to young people after a single visit to a controversial Brisbane interactive restaurant where staff deliberately abuse patrons, a clinical psychologist warns.

A clinical psychologist has revealed the concept behind a controversial interactive restaurant in Brisbane’s north has the potential to be “incredibly dangerous”.

University of the Sunshine Coast Associate Professor Helen Stallman said Karen’s Diner, in Chermside, which spruiks that staff “manners are non-existent”, could be “problematic” for staff and patrons.

“Any exposure to abuse is really problematic for kids,” Professor Stallman said.

“They don’t have the cognitive capacity to screen things out, and having said that, neither do many adults.

“You don’t know what the trigger points are for each person.

“I think (Karen’s Diner) are trying to make fun and light of the whole ‘Karen’ concept …”

The house rules at Karen’s Diner state “no racism, no sexism, no homophobic comments, no body images comments, no ableist comments, do not touch our staff, no sexual remarks towards staff members”.

A staff member at Karen’s Diner at Chermside.

Professor Stallman said the appeal of Karen’s Diner was undoubtedly driven by the “entertainment value” with the experience “almost like someone giving you permission to be naughty in the classroom”.

She said “getting into the habit of going to abuse someone” was a “really unhealthy coping strategy”.

“People may continue to ruminate on (a comment) and that could be really damaging to their health,” Professor Stallman said.

She said the “damage could be done” after a single visit to the diner.

The reaction comes after the restaurant had to apologise to a family after they were left shell-shocked following a “vulgar” dining experience.

Stacey Howard and his family were left “disgusted” after a waiter made a masturbating gesture towards his 14-year-old daughter.

He said he then comforted his daughter before he was referred to as a “pedophile” by the same waiter and told he was “keeping it in the family”.

But Ms Stallman said the issue with this concept was that having parents present might not help their children.

Pop-up Karen’s Diner offers burgers served by deliberately rude staff. Picture: Supplied

Professor Stallman said exposing children to this kind of environment could “validate” certain behaviour that could have repercussions for other children in the schoolyard.

Meanwhile, Australian Foodservice Advocacy Body board member Wes Lambert said Karen’s Diner was a “parody of what you would expect in dining”.

Mr Lambert said the trend, which has become popular on TikTok, was “catching on because so many people are so used to the customer always being right but they also appreciate the Karen label and everyone understands what that means”.

“It’s an experience; you know what you are getting before you go,” Mr Lambert said.

“It seems very transparent about what they are doing.

“And certainly, if you are a seasoned diner that wants to get a laugh out of going to a restaurant and getting roasted then it’s certainly the place to go.”

When asked whether the controversial concept would last, Mr Lambert said “all trends have a life cycle”.

“Certainly the expectation is that trends like this will get people back out dining and increase the theatre in dining but its very important to keep things tasteful even in parody,” he said.

“It’s very important that a balance is struck between the parody and making sure there is no abuse or inappropriate comments.”

Originally published as ‘Incredibly dangerous’: Psychologist slams rude Karen’s Diner concept