A bust depicting a former Beggar’s Banquet owner allegedly was stolen Saturday night from the restaurant, and owners, employees and those close to Beggar’s Banquet, 218 Abbot Road, are hoping for its safe return.
The piece is a bronze bust of former owner Bob Adler, current Beggar’s Banquet owner Tom Bramson said. Although the bust is not a large piece, it is heavy and would have taken a large amount of effort to remove it from the restaurant, he said. The value of the bust is not known, but it likely does not carry much monetary value, Bramson said.
Alex Johnson, manager of Beggar’s Banquet said a server reported the bust missing Saturday after a large group of people sitting near it left the restaurant.
No one saw the group remove the bust, Johnson said, but no one had noticed its disappearance before the group sat down.
“We tried to see if the people were still around, checking around (and) talking to all the cab drivers, but we didn’t hear anything,” Johnson said. “They were pretty sneaky about it.”
Bramson said the bust has deep personal meaning to those who have been close to Beggar’s Banquet throughout its years of business.
He said Adler commissioned the piece about 30 years ago to decorate the restaurant, and since then it has served as a testament to the hard work the former owner put into making Beggar’s Banquet the restaurant it is today.
“He put his blood, sweat and tears into that restaurant,” Bramson said. “It is much more important to us as a family to have that piece in our possession.”
Johnson said she didn’t think the alleged theft was meant to be malicious and said she believes the people who allegedly stole the item might not understand what it means to those who hold Beggar’s Banquet dear.
“I feel like they didn’t realize the capacity of what they were doing or what they were taking,” Johnson said.
Emily Campbell, a research technician in MSU’s Department of Entomology, said she remembered seeing the statue when she went to Beggar’s Banquet last year. The dim lighting might have made it easier for the alleged thefts to occur, she said.
Even so, Campbell said she wasn’t sure why a student or customer at Beggar’s Banquet would want the statue if they didn’t think it was worth some amount of money.
“I can’t imagine why they would have any animosity against the place,” Campbell said.
Bramson said he has not yet filed a police report with the city to give anyone who might have made off with the bust the opportunity to return it.
However, he said he plans to do so if the bust does not turn up soon.
“We hope that it was just a dare, or a prank or something silly versus what would be a felony theft,” Bramson said.
“I’m used to people stealing beer, mirrors and those kinds of things. … We haven’t gone out into the public for very many things in the past, and this is certainly the most important one.”
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