Diners left speechless after common menu abbreviation mistake left them with huge bill

Diners were left speechless after a common menu abbreviation mistake saw them slapped with a huge bill.

There are few things worse than being hit with a surprise bill to pay, as three young girls who were dining out recently soon realized.

Aribella Menold and her family went out for a meal at the Moonrakers restaurant in North Carolina and were left reeling when the check came, all because of a bit of a mix-up with the pricing.

The 20-year-old filmed the bill total, alongside the shocked faces of her sisters, revealing that they hadn't understood the restaurant's costs and weren't expecting to cough up $159.14.

The tab shows the trio ordered two 12 oz New York strip steaks for $52 each, a $28 baby kale Caesar salad with an extra $11 for grilled chicken, a $10 kid's grilled cheese and a $3 Sprite.

It was all because of the MKT price (Getty Images)

The order came to $145 with a three percent credit card surcharge, adding $4.35 more, plus the 6.75 percent sales tax that lumped on another $9.79.

The video, which has since gone viral on TikTok with millions of views, added in text over their horrified faces: "POV: You didn't know what 'mkt' meant on the steak menu and now you're paying for it."

Joking further at their predicament, the youngster added the 2010 hit 'Ordinary Girl' by Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) as the soundtrack with hashtags like #justgirlythings and #girlmath.

Speaking to Newsweek, Menold said: "We thought the price was going to be like $20-$30," which explains why they were so stunned.

However, it's clearly not just Menold and her family who are unfamiliar with the menu moniker as dozens more in the comments of her video asked what MKT means.

The family hadn't realized the cost of the dish (Getty Images)

Offering up their own interpretation of the menu trick, one TikToker said: "mkt means it's a scam and they can charge you whatever they want."

In reality, MKT on a menu stands for 'market price' and is often written next to high value items like seafood or steak, instead of a general cost, as these fluctuate based on availability, season and cost.

In diners' terms, it means the kitchen re-prices the items per day in accordance with the current wholesale cost, and most often servers will inform customers of the price of the day.

Yet many more were left divided over whether the almost $160 bill was fair - or a rip off.

While one said: "That’s like 53-55$ each girl is spending on dinner. That’s wild tbh," another said it's 'not bad' and that $53 each 'is good.'

"For steak??? That's not much at all," another agreed.

A fourth chimed: "50 for dinner is normal."

"Pretty cheap for steak dinner," another controversially weighed in.

Others were shocked at the cost of the grilled cheese (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, others pointed out the almost $30 salad was the most outrageous part and dubbed 10 dollars for a grilled cheese 'criminal.'

"$52 for a steak isn't bad but $10 grilled cheese and $28 kale salad is insane," another comment read.

Menold told the news outlet that the girls were treated to the fancy meal.

"Our grandpa ended up paying for it which was so sweet of him," she explained.

UNILAD has contacted Moonrakers for comment.