The Missing Dollar Riddle - 3 Men in a Restaurant

This is one of the most puzzling riddles in history. Even when you know the answer, it still leaves you feeling a little confused.

The story goes like this ...

Three men went to have lunch in a restaurant. They ordered their meal, and the total charge came to $30. Each man paid $10.

However, the restaurant manager realised that he had overcharged them by $5, so he asked the waiter to return the $5 to them.

Unfortunately, the waiter was dishonest, and thinking that $5 could not be divided by three, he pocketed $2 and gave each man just $1 back.

Therefore, the men actually paid $9 each, or a total of $27 for the meal.

Add to that the $2 that the waiter kept, and that totals $29.

So ........ what happened to the missing dollar?

The cost of the meal was $30 less $5 = $25. The three men paid a total of $27 (3 x $9) ... $25 for the meal and $2 for the waiter. The confusion comes from mistakenly adding $27 and $2 and getting the meaningless figure of $29.

Still confused? You are not alone!