The Game hired a burger joint to cater his shindig, but went radio silent when it came time to pay the piper ... so says the owner suing the rapper, but Game says the owner's lying her ass off.
The owner of Big D's Burgers sued Game claiming the joint is out $8,500 for unpaid catering services for a Fourth of July party.
A rep for Big D's tells us Game hired the restaurant on 2 separate occasions and each time Game paid cash. The rep says Game requested food for up to 250 partygoers. But the rep says about 450 people showed up, forcing Big D's to make a food run.
What's more ... the rep says he was told to also grab booze and cleaning supplies, which wasn't part of the deal but agreed to buy and bring back anyway. When it came time to pay Big D's, the rep says Game promised to wire the money the next day ... but the dough never came.
We reached out to Game, and his manager Wack 100 tells TMZ the rapper never had a contract with Big D's and says they thought the company catered the party for free.