HUNTINGTON BEACH – When Diana Carrillo, her sister and two friends decided to try the Saint Marc Pub-Cafe in Pacific City last week, they were hoping for a nice shared experience.

They got a shared experience, but not one they would have expected.

When they were seated, 24-year-old Carrillo of Irvine, said the waiter asked her, “Can I see your proof of residency?”

Carrillo said she was shocked.

“I already had my ID out. I couldn’t say anything,” she said.

She turned to her sister, Brenda Carrillo, and friends and said, “Did he just ask me that?”

Carrillo said the waiter asked the other three women the same thing, saying “I need to make sure you’re residents before I serve you.”

After talking with the manager, who apologized, the four left the restaurant. Carrillo related her experience, on Saturday, March 11, on social media, which has since taken on a life of its own.

The restaurant posted an apology three days later that said in part, “This type of behavior is not representative of the St. Marc brand and will not be tolerated.”

Kent Berden, the senior director of operations at the restaurant, said Wednesday that he fired the waiter, whose name was not disclosed. He said the waiter’s actions were unacceptable and not reflective of the restaurant.

“The individual didn’t follow corporate policy by any stretch of the imagination,” Berden said.

He said this was the first such complaint the restaurant has had since it opened in 2015.

Carrillo, whose parents are immigrants, said the interaction was part of what she fears is going to be a growing trend.

“I feel that’s the direction we’re headed in, given who’s the president,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons I posted it on social media rather than just dealing with the restaurant.”

Berden said the waiter told him he thought the question was asked “in a joking fashion.”

Carrillo isn’t buying it. She said the waiter showed no hint of humor, just a “bad vibe.”

The restaurant contacted Carrillo and offered to donate 10 percent of this weekend’s sales to a charity of her choice and invited the four women to be VIP guests.

Carrillo said she declined the invitation but did accept the restaurant’s donation offer, asking that it go to Orange County Immigrant Youth United. The restaurant said it would comply.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7964, gmellen@scng.com