Before I launch into the story of how I served burritos and buns to America's reality TV heartthrob, there's something I've got to admit: I didn't have a clue who Tyler Cameron—or Tyler C., as the country came to know him on Hannah Brown's recent season of The Bachelorette—before he walked into my restaurant. I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm a convert now, even part of the Delish office's secret Bachelor-related Slack channel. Can we move on? Great.
On weekdays, I'm the editorial assistant at Delish, but on Saturdays and Sundays, I throw on my weekend wig and work as a bartender at the West Village Filipino taqueria, Flip Sigi. Tyler walked in on a Monday...a Monday that'll never escape my memory, before I had started my job at Delish.
It was like any other weekday at the restaurant for me—mixing cocktails, serving people their tacos and burritos, chatting it up with my usual customers—but then right before sunset, in walked two beautifully sculpted men. As I shifted my eyes to the door, I saw a scruffy guy with a dark haired man who I can only describe as, um, glowing. Their major BDE turned me off, though—which my facial expression clearly said.
Instead of providing them with my typical friendly customer service when they stepped inside, I quickly led them to an open seat, handed them menus, and proceeded with my day. I didn't try to make any small talk or even explain our menu to these guys who were acting like they were hot shots.
You guys: I now regret that. I now regret that so much. When they were ready to order, they were quick to tell me exactly what they had wanted, which frightened me because that most likely meant they were frequent customers. I had basically just handed a terrible Yelp review to them. One of the guys continued to tell me how he was friends with the owner, loved everything about the restaurant, and had to bring his friend to try out the place.
Then...it happened. The moment I'll always cherish but wish I could redo. The friend swiftly reached his hand out in my direction, looked me in my eyes, and introduced himself: "Hey, I'm Tyler." I got sucked in by his gorgeousness and dreaminess—and the fact that for a second we were holding hands.
Later in their meal, I noticed they were intensely documenting their food experience on their Instagram stories and made a mental note of it. Once they finished their meals, I came to find they had thrown away their trash and cleaned up after themselves...AKA they did my job for me. I got even more annoyed because these guys were the epitome of good looking, they were outgoing, and they were respectful? Like, c'mon, it's 2019. Where do you find rare gems like these?!
As they were gathering their stuff to leave, I gave them my thanks and told them goodbye. They both said thank you, and got up to head to the door. After Tyler had stood up to thank me, he said another "thank you" as he was walking. Then when he was inches from exiting, he threw in another cheerful, "Bye, thank you!"
Later that day, I was on my phone, trolling the gram and noticed my restaurant had reposted a story from a customer that I served earlier on. LOW AND BEHOLD, it was Tyler—Tyler C., who I suddenly realized had over a million followers from his stint on ABC.
I texted my best friend right away because if lil' ol' pop culture-obsessed me had no clue who he was, she definitely would. She texted me instantly and couldn't believe I made contact with him and didn't get weak in the knees. From then to now, I've experienced the five stages of grief and have just accepted my faults. Tyler C could have been the one for me.
How am I doing now? Thanks for asking. I've accepted I f*cked up. Do I replay the meeting in my head wishing I could rewind and not act like a biatch? So much. All I have to say is—watch out, Gigi. If you don't give him your final rose...I will (and a supply of burritos, if you're reading this, Ty).
Megan Uy is an associate shopping editor at Cosmopolitan, where she searches for the best products in all things fashion, home, beauty, sex, gifts, and more, so you don’t have to. When she’s not writing for the site, she’s whipping up some cool and trendy content for the fashion section of the print magazine. She’s been with the brand since 2019 (when she was an itty-bitty editorial fellow), and she's also written for Delish, House Beautiful, and People. Follow her on Instagram to get some BTS of the editor life and chaotic NYC content. Also, feel free to hit her up if you ever wanna discuss the madness that is TikTok.
