Baltimore pizza shop turns to social media after its card reader was stolen. It worked.

It was late Saturday when a server at Angeli’s Pizzeria in Federal Hill realized one of their point-of-sale terminals — devices used to let people pay by credit card — was missing.

Hasan Ilhan, co-owner of the restaurant, wasn’t too worried at first. It’s easy to misplace the card readers, he said, especially when the restaurant is busy.

But the staff looked everywhere after closing. That’s when Ilhan checked the security footage and saw that a group of customers, who had paid for their food, had stolen the device.

The group looked young, Ilhan said. Instead of calling the police, the owners decided to try to reach them through social media. Ilhan posted a video on Sunday explaining what happened and asking the Baltimore community for help finding the card reader.

As long as the group apologized and returned the device, the owners said, all would be well.

It went viral on Instagram, with thousands of views.

The restaurant, known for its New York-style pizza, opened in Little Italy in 2019. Since then, the pizzeria has expanded into several neighborhoods across the city. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who’s built a large pizza-eating presence through his “One Bite” reviews, visited the restaurant’s Little Italy location in 2024.

The original video posted by the restaurant showed two people with blurred faces stealing the card reader. The faces of the friends who were with them weren’t blurred.

By Labor Day, the group reached out and said they could return the card reader terminal to the restaurant, according to Ilhan.

“You have to come here in person and you have to talk with us,” Ilhan said he told them. “You just need to explain what happened.”

Ilhan said the person was brave and apologetic.

The restaurant deleted its original social posts, but shared an enthusiastic follow-up video Tuesday telling customers that the device had been returned.

“You guys did it!” co-owner Juniet Ozturk said on Instagram.

Ilhan said a terminal costs around $350. He ordered a new one after realizing the terminal had been stolen.