Marines kicked out of Applebee’s after confrontation with staff over Corps birthday cake

QUANTICO, Va. – A group of Marines were kicked out of a local Applebee’s when a confrontation between the service members and the waitstaff escalated to the point where the restaurant staff were concerned about the safety and wellbeing of their customers.

According to Savannah Shibley, the restaurant’s manager, the confrontation started when six Marines each asked for a complimentary birthday cake but were refused because none of the dates on their driver’s licenses matched the actual date.

“We have a strict policy about only providing complimentary cakes to people when it’s actually their birthday,” said Shibley. “When we told them ‘no’, they began getting rowdy and started singing something about Montezuma at the top of their lungs. Well, I say ‘sing’, but it was really nothing more than loud, slurred sounds that vaguely held a tempo.”

The staff continued to try and explain the restaurant’s policy but any attempt to dissolve the situation only resulted in louder, more hostile verbal assaults. While most of their ranting was incoherent, some patrons were able to piece together a few of the comments based on context.

“One guy was upset because I think he said, ‘it’s the Corps birthday, so it’s all our birthdays’,” said Joshua Thomas, a businessman from Ohio in town for a conference. “Another just kept shouting ‘this ain’t the Tun Tavern.'”

Shibley said that kind of behavior would normally get people kicked out immediately, but the Marines had racked up an extensive bill of liquor, beer, and food, so she attempted to compromise with the young warriors by offering to give them a single cake to celebrate their beloved Marine Corps birthday. This provided a momentary pause to the situation, but the peace wouldn’t last long once the waitress brough out the confectionary dessert.

“I was going to give them the cake and then the bill,” said Shibley. “I wanted them out of there and was willing to compromise on the eve of Veterans Day, but then one of them pulled out a giant goddamn sword. I don’t even know where he had that thing stashed away, he was wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Either way, I told them to put it away and they started shouting again and flailing the weapon around without any concern who or what was around them.”

As it turns out, the Marines had brought the sword, a Mameluke with a polished blade and gold-plated handle, specifically to cut the cake. According to military historian Taylor Green, it’s tradition to ceremoniously cut a cake on a military branch’s birthday with a sword as a reminder that they are warriors who are committed to carrying the burden of war so that the country may live in peace.

“I don’t give a shit about their traditions,” Shibley said. “I don’t need a bunch of drunk idiots waving a weapon around my restaurant. There were literal kids sitting in the booth behind them. At that point, I didn’t care about the money, I called the police and had them escorted off the property.”

Both local police and military police from Marine Base Quantico arrived to disarm and apprehend the Marines in question. As soon as the authorities were on scene, the situation quickly cooled off. The drunken service members were escorted off the property without further incident (except for one Marine grabbing a handful of crayon packets for the children’s menu on his way out).

Shibley said she was happy the incident was resolved without injury and can’t wait for the Veterans Day rush tomorrow.

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