This customer thought they would get away with a scathing Yelp review, but the chef at the restaurant hit them with the facts.
The Undue Power Of Yelp
While it’s important to know what you’re getting into when you pick a restaurant, sometimes the power of Yelp goes to people’s heads. The smallest perceived slight and people set out to destroy someone’s livelihood.
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A Scathing Review
One particular Yelper went off on a restaurant after what appeared to be a cheese mix up in an omelet.
“Serves a goat cheese omelette (on the menu) with mozzarella cheese !!! That’s right and they tried to pass it off as got cheese! The excuse … sometimes he gets confused !!! Are you kidding me? With those prices you don’t have that luxury !!! Pick another place to go. You’ll never know what will be put in your food !! “
The Chef’s Response
It’s not often that you see a chef respond to a review like that, but the chef of this place decided to set the record straight. After explaining that they don’t usually deal with negative reviews like this, but he wanted to rectify the situation with facts about cheese.
“As the chef I also feel a responsibility to let you know that the cheese was not mozzarella, it would never be mozzarella unless we had made the mozzarella in house that is a cheese much like a burrata that can be easily made within a restaurant. It belongs to the pasta filata family of cheeses, it is not a cultured cheese.”
“The cheese you had was a gruyere, and in its own right gruyere is a great cheese, a French bistro classic that does not even minutely resemble the texture of a true mozzarella nor does its flavor profile come close to the milky cleanness of a mozz as it is semi hard and cultured possessing a foot that a mozzarella does not possess.”
They Still Ate The Entire Thing!
After explaining cheese, the chef continued and gave his side of the situation.
“I recall you coming into the restaurant, I recall stating that you were correct that the cheese in the omelet was supposed to be goats cheese and I recall offering to fix the problem I also recall that we comped your omelette even though you consumed the entire thing.”
“I would never try and pass a cheese off as one instead of the other, the days leading up to your lunch we had placed a gruyere omelette on the menu, it was reflexive and honest mistake that could have been easily fixed but you chose not to allow us to do so.”
This Is A Very Polite Shut Down
You can tell that the chef is getting angrier as he goes on, before completely calling out the reviewer’s bad behavior.
nstead, you wait several weeks to write a review that states information that is incorrect and inflammatory to a restaurant like ours that goes through great lengths to be the best that we can. “
“If we failed in our endeavor with you I can accept that responsibility but I will not have our integrity attacked by a palate that cannot discern between mozzarella and gruyere… unless that was a mistake…. which is a luxury that those writing a serious critique of a serious restaurant do not have.”
The Commenters Were Brutal
The Reddit commenters were definitely on the chef’s side in this situation, because what kind of fool would complain about getting gruyere?!
Is Yelp Such A Good Idea Anyway?
Others pointed out the fatal flaw of Yelp: people can be really terrible.
Just Rude
Others pointed out the fact that they ate the entire omelet before complaining AND got it comped. What is their problem?! What more could they possible want from a single meal?
“Two Bites And It’s Yours”
One commenter gave some sage advice that anyone tempted to complain should keep in mind: “After two bites, it’s yours.”
Bourdain Was Right
Anthony Bourdain was the absolute greatest, and he was right about most things, especially his thoughts on Yelpers.
Life’s Too Short
Another commenter provided a helpful reminder in case you’re ever considering leaving a very long, negative review:
This is the sh*t they’re talking about when they say life is too short.
Still Eat It
If you’re going to complain about the food, then you probably shouldn’t eat it:
I love people who complain about the food they got but they eat the whole thing before demanding their money back.
