''Mystery Diners'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series that aired on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

from December 14, 2011, to April 27, 2016. The series is hosted by Charles Stiles, the owner of California-based Business Evaluation Services and Mystery Shopper Services.

Premise

The show focuses on the Mystery Diners, an organization led by Charles Stiles that goes undercover at specific restaurants at their owners' requests, and sets up undercover stings and unseen surveillance cameras to catch misbehaving restaurant employees in the act. Season 9 had Charles Stiles starting to make use of

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

Controversy around authenticity

A disclaimer at the end of the credits reads- “The people and events depicted in this program are real. Certain events may have been re-enacted for dramatic purposes." Television reviewer Ben Pobjie wrote "''Mystery Diners'' has achieved enormous success on SBS Food Network despite making no attempt whatsoever to appear convincing. This show, which purports to 'expose' employees of restaurants ripping off their employers, contains so many implausible scenarios, inept actors and transparently fake denouements that it's really quite refreshing."What reality TV needs right now is a dose of dumbness: hello Mystery Diners

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

, December 1, 2016

Episodes

Green text means the target/s was/were not guilty of the/all crime/s. Blue text means the target/s was/were guilty of the/a different crimes or was/were tricked into being part of the main crime/s where they were occasionally spared. Red text means the target/s was/were guilty of the main crime/s and was/were fired or quit.

Season 1 (2012)

Season 2 (2012–13)

Season 3 (2013)

Season 4 (2013)

Season 5 (2014)

Season 6 (2014)

Season 7 (2014)

Season 8 (2014–15)

Season 9 (2015)

Season 10 (2015)

Season 11 (2015–2016)

Production

Reception

References

External links

*
Mystery Diners
on TV.com
Business Evaluation Services
{{Food Network series 2010s American reality television series 2012 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Food Network original programming 2016 American television series endings