A man walked into a Nashville pizza shop, reached over the counter into a scorching conveyor oven, and yanked out a hot pie with his bare hand — wincing in pain before wrapping it in napkins and heading for the door. Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria shared the surveillance footage on social media on September 4, exposing the unidentified customer to a wave of online attention and mockery.
The man reached over the counter to grab the pizza right at the end of the oven, then recoiled after his hand touched the underside of the hot tray. He dropped the pizza slightly on the counter, folded it in two, covered it with napkins, and left the restaurant with it in hand, per the outlet's report. Commercial conveyor and deck ovens like the one used at Slim & Husky's typically run as hot as 550 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that creates a severe burn risk for anyone grabbing metal trays without protection, as reported by The Nerd Stash.
Slim & Husky's leaned into the moment rather than simply reporting the theft. The restaurant dubbed the clip with Snoop Dogg's “Drop It Like It's Hot” and captioned the post asking, “who unc is this?” according to Dexerto's account of the video. One viewer commenting on the footage joked that police wouldn't be able to catch him because “them fingerprints burnt off,” the outlet reported.
What Remains Unclear About the Alleged Theft
Neither Slim & Husky's nor authorities have said whether the man had already paid for the pizza before grabbing it himself, a detail that the same Nerd Stash report flagged as a key unresolved fact. That gap leaves open whether the incident amounts to straightforward theft or an unauthorized, unsafe attempt at self-service by an impatient customer — online commenters were similarly split on the question, per the outlet.
The pizza incident wasn't the only theft the Nashville chain called out. Dexerto also reported that a separate customer had ghosted a $150 tab, and that the restaurant's social media exposure of the oven incident came after the business turned to Facebook and Instagram to publicize both cases. The pattern has fueled broader industry concern that some restaurants may start banning customers who exploit order delays to walk off with food, Dexerto reported, noting that some establishments already offer refunds when delivery takes longer than 30 minutes.
Legal Exposure Under Tennessee Theft Law
If identified and charged, the man could face a Class A misdemeanor under Tennessee Code § 39-14-105, which covers theft of property or services valued at $1,000 or less and carries penalties of up to 11 months and 29 days in jail plus fines as high as $2,500, according to Justia Law. Separately, Tennessee Code § 39-14-146 allows retail merchants who suffer shoplifting or merchandise theft to pursue civil monetary damages against perpetrators independent of any criminal case, per the same legal database. Prosecutors also have the option under § 39-14-105(b) to aggregate the value of multiple thefts committed under a common scheme into a single case, potentially elevating charges to felony status if cumulative losses exceed $1,000, according to N. Cate Law.
A Nashville Brand With a National Footprint
Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria was founded in Nashville in 2017 by three Tennessee State University alumni and longtime friends, Clint Gray, Derrick Moore, and Emanuel “E.J.” Reed, who had originally started a moving company together before launching the pizzeria, according to Face2Face Africa. The brand built its identity around a hip-hop and R&B theme, serving custom rectangular artisan pizzas named “Slim” and “Husky” alongside local craft beers and gourmet cinnamon rolls, per Real Food Traveler. In March 2021, the chain became the first Black-owned restaurant to open on Nashville's historic Broadway strip inside the Fifth + Broadway development, a milestone reported by The Tennessee Tribune.
The chain has since expanded well beyond Tennessee, with locations also operating in Georgia and California, and in December 2020 it partnered with online distributor Goldbelly to ship frozen pizzas and desserts to all 50 states. Hoodline covered the chain's regional growth in a 2019 Atlanta debut report. As of this latest incident, the identity of the man in the oven video remains unknown, and it is unclear whether the restaurant or law enforcement plans to pursue formal charges.
