Brooklyn’s most notorious dine-and-dash influencer, Pei “Lu” Chung, has been caught on video once again attempting to skip out on a bill — but this time, Williamsburg restaurants appear to be finally catching on to her scheme. Despite their vigilance, the 32-year-old still managed to spend hours inside an eatery Wednesday night without paying a cent.

Chung, who has been arrested five times for leaving pricey New York restaurants with unpaid tabs — including Michelin-star establishments such as Francie and Peter Luger — has quickly become a local menace. New information obtained by The Post reveals she is also more than $40,000 behind on rent for her luxury Williamsburg apartment.

Williamsburg restaurant staffers are on high alert for Pei “Lu” Chung, who has been ordering hundreds of dollars worth of food and refusing to pay the bill, even egging some owners on to “call the cops.”lu.pychung/Instagram

The designer dine-and-dasher sported a fur coat, cashmere beret and toted around a white leather Louis Vuitton bag while camping out at Hole In The Wall in Williamsburg for hours on Wednesday night.lu.pychung/Instagram

On Wednesday evening, dressed in a fur coat, a cashmere beret, and carrying a white Louis Vuitton purse, Chung walked into Hole in the Wall, an Australian café-restaurant on Bedford Avenue. Staff immediately recognized her. Over the next five hours, she ordered three entrées — pan-seared salmon, bucatini carbonara, and a burrata salad — yet didn’t touch a single bite.

Wannbe influencer Chung at Hole in the Wall restaurant on Wednesday night in video obtained by The Post.Obtained by NY Po

Staff said that even though she ran up a $77 bill, she didn’t eat any of the food. She was in the restaurant for five hours though.Obtained by NY Post

Chung disappeared to the bathroom — a place she has hidden in other restaurants when trying to avoid the bill.Obtained by NY Post

Ross, a waiter who spoke to The Post, said his manager confronted her as soon as she ordered the food:

“My manager knew about the scam. He told her, ‘You’re not going to keep this food unless you have a form of payment.’ She laughed at him.”

The restaurant captured footage of her sitting alone at a corner table, taking photos for Instagram before disappearing into the bathroom — a pattern consistent with her past dine-and-dash attempts.

Even after threatening to call the police, staff found her unfazed.

“She said, ‘Yes, please do,’” Ross explained. “Our manager gave up. The plates were full… we just took them away. She spent five hours scrolling on her phone.”

The restaurant ultimately chose not to involve law enforcement.

A string of arrests — and no signs of slowing down

Chung was arrested twice in the same day the previous Saturday for failing to pay at Sea Thai and the Michelin-starred hotspot Misi. She was released under supervision both times. A week earlier, she’d been arrested and arraigned for similar offenses at multiple restaurants.

Her spree continued after the weekend. On Tuesday, she walked out on a bill at 12 Chairs, according to management.

A glamorous online persona, a chaotic offline reality

Chung ordered salmon at Hole In The Wall restaurant in Williamsburg, where she sat for five hours and absconded to the restroom to avoid paying for her meal, staffers confirmed to The Post.lu.pychung/Instagram


Chung, originally from Taiwan, moved to New York in 2019 on a full-ride merit scholarship to Pratt University, where she studied information experience design and IT. Her LinkedIn claims she worked as a consultant for Chase Bank until 2023, though it’s unclear if she is currently employed.

Chung also ordered an indulgent carbonara pasta dish staffers said she did not eat.lu.pychung/Instagram

“He threatened to call the police on her and she said, ‘Yes, please do.’ Our manager gave up. The plates were full – we took away the plates of food and a cappuccino. She spent five hours scrolling on her phone,” Ross, a waiter at the eatery told the Post, declining to share his last name. 
lu.pychung/Instagram

Court documents seen by News 12 show she stopped paying rent in 2023, accumulating over $40,000 in unpaid rent at her “posh” Williamsburg building. Neighbors told The Post she has behaved erratically — yelling in hallways, leaving trash like used masks and broken appliances, and even vandalizing a neighbor’s door with red lipstick.

One of Chung’s neighbors emailed The Post Wednesday to claim she has been yelling outside her door and leaving trash, including dirty masks and a broken vacuum, in the hallway. She also allegedly vandalized his door. lu.pychung/Instagram

“Doing it for fame”

Ross believes Chung’s antics are part of a deliberate social-media strategy:

“It’s 100% for fame and attention. The more the cops get called, the more famous she gets. The notoriety.”

Her Instagram follower count has surged from 13,000 to 22,000 in a week. She has ignored repeated requests for comment.

Ross, the waiter at Hole in the Wall, told The Post he thinks Chung is capitalizing on the content: “It’s 100% for fame and attention.”lu.pychung/Instagram

Police reportedly show little enthusiasm about repeatedly processing her minor offenses — a detail Ross says Chung knows and exploits.

“It’s Gen Z, TikTok bulls—t. She’s totally normal,” he said.
“But the word is out — my manager wants everyone to know, so it doesn’t happen again.”

With restaurants now on high alert and her reputation spreading, the question remains whether this unusual, headline-grabbing spree will continue — or whether New York’s growing awareness of her tactics will finally shut the door on Brooklyn’s most glamorous dine-and-dasher.

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Sources (New York Post, News 12 Brooklyn)