Manhasset IHOP hostess goes viral for Adam Sandler encounter

Rose Weldon
Manhasset IHOP hostess Dayanna Rodas, left, speaks with comedy superstar Adam Sandler, center, and his daughter on April 25. A TikTok video with Rodas bemoaning that she didn't recognize Sandler went viral. (Screencap via TikTok)

A hostess at an IHOP restaurant in Manhasset revealed in a viral TikTok post that she had not recognized masked movie star Adam Sandler when he came into the restaurant and that he left after she told him he would have to wait 30 minutes for a table.

Hostess Dayanna Rodas posted a 15-second video to the media-sharing platform last week, with the first half featuring Rodas in a clown-face filter with the song “Be a Clown” by Osuna playing.

The words “Not realizing its Adam Sandler and telling him it’s a 30min wait and him ofc leaving bc hes not going to wait 30mins for IHOP,” appear above Rodas’ head, and in the last half, security camera footage from the Northern Boulevard restaurant is shown.

The April 25 footage, filmed off of a computer, shows Sandler, dressed casually in basketball shorts and a North Face sweatshirt, and one of his daughters speaking with Rodas, the hostess ostensibly telling them about the wait time, and then the Sandlers leaving the restaurant.

“Pleaseee come back,” Rodas captioned the video.

Since being uploaded, the TikTok post has been viewed over nine million times, received over 2.3 million likes and shared over 28,000 times.

Rodas, of New York City, said in a follow-up TikTok released last Thursday, showing her standing in front of a Daily Dot article about her initial video, that she “didn’t think it would blow up.”

In a third TikTok released Friday, Rodas responded to the common question of how she didn’t recognize the “Happy Gilmore” star when he came in.

“He had a big beard, and I’ve never seen Adam Sandler with a beard,” Rodas said. “And the mask didn’t help!”

The hostess later told the New York Post that she didn’t realize it had been Sandler until several minutes after talking to him.

“It wasn’t until a customer walked in about 15 minutes later saying, ‘Adam Sandler was outside,’ when I realized I spoke to Adam Sandler!” Rodas told the paper.

Sandler commented on the interaction in a tweet late Monday night, joking, “For the record, I only left the IHOP because the nice woman told me the all-you-can-eat deal didn’t apply to the milkshakes.”

In the over 19,700 comments on the original video, some viewers praised Rodas for treating the celebrity like any other customer.

“You treated everyone fairly, you did the right thing,” one user wrote.

“Thank you for humbling him,” another user wrote, accompanied by a laughing-while-crying emoji. “If we all have to wait he can wait too.”

“I would lose respect for the restaurant that lets a celebrity go before everyone else who were waiting in line though – you did the right thing,” a third wrote.

Others praised Sandler for not using his fame to push for a table.

“The fact that he just took the wait time and left instead of throwing a tantrum like regular customers do who aren’t even celebrities,” one commenter wrote.

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