Bad Restaurant Review - WWYD?

[foodcritic]

NC for this on the off chance someone works out who we are and decides to do someone similar...

We have a small independent restaurant, been established over 10 years, lots of lovely regular customers, and always grateful for new customers. Many of these come due to our good reviews on various sites such as TripAdvisor, Google, etc. Also we do a fair bit (probably weekly) on local community Facebook pages which also attracts new people and reminds existing customers of what we are doing by way of Chef Specials etc.

Last week a Google review went on with 2 stars - and a comment along the lines of 'sad to see xxxxx on the menu'. (xxxx being a dish that some people find unacceptable, others specifically come to our restaurant to eat as it's difficult to find in supermarkets or other restaurants)

There is a name so I know exactly who has written this, and she's a local person who has never eaten at our restaurant. She has on occasion also used a crying emoji when she sees posts for certain dishes on Facebook that i have posted. (Suspect she's not a meat eater)

So - I have responded to the review with a similarly short comment, basically saying how disappointing someone has given a review based not on eating in the restaurant and experiencing our food/service, but based on a specific menu item.

Reviews are so important to small businesses, we can't afford massive advertising campaigns, and although this one hasn't really put a dent in our overall rating it's so frustrating. But I'm now wondering if I shouldn't have responded as I've made us look as petty as her. What would you have done?

It's just virtue signalling.

Most of them will eat regular meat with no qualms at all.

You need to know that the ONLY time you would tube feed a farm animal usually a calf or a lamb by tube, is to give it colostrum when it is too weak to stand and suckle. If the do not get that colostrum which contains the disease resisting antibodies life prospects are very poor.

If you are referring to geese force fed is that legal in the UK?.

@Crazykatie

My post was in direct response to @Shade17 saying they had witnessed gavage in person as part of seeing the foie gras production process, and enjoyed eating foie gras afterwards.

I wasn't referring to life preserving measures, I was specifically referring to the experience they described.

I seem to be in the minority in that I love a restaurant which is obviously good (majority positive reviews) and where the owner stands up for themself when faced with unreasonable or unfair reviews.

I was encouraged to visit this restaurant in Bruges and it was fabulous. So much so that it was the only restaurant we revisited when we went on a second trip.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g188671-d694742-Reviews-Park_Restaurant-Bruges_West_Flanders_Province.html

This is because, having worked with the general public, I know that, however good you are, there are always some arseholes who will find fault. Seeing somewhere that doesn’t believe “the customer is always right” is refreshing.

I see you've withdrawn your comment. It's probably for the best. It's better to ignore these people, but that is easier said than done. Surely, we have all reacted to what we think is unfair and petty criticism? And it is just as petty for someone who has never eaten in your restaurant and has no intention of doing so, to complain about an item on the menu that you are at liberty to serve and that people like.

I don't run a restaurant but I'm guessing that if your customers didn't order something, you wouldn't offer it. I'm sure some people come to you because you serve veal. I would.

Does this woman have a personal grudge against you or does she scatter her judgement on anyone who offends her?

You answering back, so long as it wasn't rude, wouldn't put me off at all. In fact I sometimes like a witty response. But I wouldn't bother wasting your time next time and certainly wouldn't give it another thought.

I eat British-raised veal and am content with my decision. Of course people can refuse to eat it on ethical grounds, but unless they also avoid dairy products, I don't have any time for them. What do they think happens to the boy calves of dairy breeds, or male chicks if they eat eggs for that matter? I don't have a lot of time for most people who seek to lecture me on my lifestyle and tell me about theirs, yet some of them are quite persistent.

And it is just as petty for someone who has never eaten in your restaurant and has no intention of doing so, to complain about an item on the menu that you are at liberty to serve and that people like.

Maybe, but she's not selling a service that makes her public image important.

Absolutely this. I'd also look into getting the review removed if it's obvious from the text itself, without your background info, the person hasn't actually been there.

I know right!

To be honest, I would be put off by somewhere that was serving any kind of veal other than rose veal produced in the UK. If you adhere to this you should be saying so on the review site with links to the information from it on the RSPCA website. It is not my cup of tea, but better to have those calves who are by products of the dairy industry used for food than slaughtered and disposed of. But they need to be treated decently first.

This.

We might be in a minority on this thread but I'd like to share a table with you.

I always click on the Terrible ratings on Trip Advisor for a laugh. There was a brilliant one about a restaurant in Liverpool (not my home city) that I visited as few years ago and enjoyed.

I idly wondered how they were doing because I had a very nice evening there and thought if I ever went to Liverpool again, I'd definitely go there again.

It was unhinged. I thought ,maybe she'd had a bad time so looked up her other reviews and detected that she was someone who was hard to please.

Crated (white) veal rearing practices were banned in the EU (and UK) in 2007.
(of course, in the UK we're now no longer checking imports)

But this is the prejudice the OP is up against, and it would be wise to declare their sourcing policies in the reply to the review to defer the criticism that's been raised.

We should be eating a lot more veal in the UK given our dairy consumption, but it's so hard to get hold of - it's a special order from our butcher, minimum order one side of veal.

I always thought that the issue with veal was the horrific stuff where calves are kept in small dark boxes their entire lives so that the meat is white and tender.

I think this is banned in UK - I'd respond to the review and say that you only serve ethical veal.

Yeah

i don’t know how anyone could defend that

I think you did the right thing in removing it. People can see from her review that she hasn't eaten at your restaurant, so there's no real harm to you, unless your star rating takes a bit hit (which you said it hasn't).

Tangentially related, the hypocrisy on this thread is breathtaking. Unless you're vegan, or only buy animal products from small, high-welfare farms near your house, you have no standing to lecture about animal welfare.

I don't like it when the business replies to negative reviews (or positive reviews to be honest!). I think it's petty.

Your restaurant sounds like my sort of place. I wouldn't take my vegan mum there though!

It's been banned in the whole of the EU since 2006 and in the UK sine the very early 90s.

Someone linked below to the RSPCA page which explains the difference between white and rose veal, and some people (me) might prefer to eat rose veal for welfare reasons, but neither are in crates.

Male calves are a by product of the dairy industry. No-one should eat anything that they don't want to but there's no particularly solid argument for refusing UK veal if you're not vegetarian or vegan.

If its veal I dont blame her

Id imagine on the lines of Fois Gras, Veal etc? It's unethical and causes unnecessary animal suffering. The reviewer is reviewing your lack of ethics. She doesn't claim to have eaten there, nor does she need to be a vegetarian or vegan to be appalled by this, many meat eaters know better too.

Put another way, I've never visited Seaworld, but I've left a review highlighting their inhumane treatment and trafficking of sea life.

*Yes withdraw your comment

whenever I see an owner getting involved in a spat, I find it very off putting*

I agree.ithas stopped me booking places before.

I agree with posters comments around veal, the dairy industry and meat eating in general . There is a huge amount of hypocrisy around meat eating and treatment of animals .

Is it veal? I would chose that option if available as you can't find it in the supermarkets. There are different types of veal.

OP, I think you are right to stand up for the integrity of your restaurant and to respond to this negative review. However, I agree with some previous posters that the language in your response could have been been more 'aloof' (for want of a better word) - Good luck with everything.🌸

Exactly!

Veal is essentially a waste product of the dairy industry.

More people who consume milk should eat veal, it'd make the lives of those days old calves much more useful than being shot and taken to landfill. They're not even worthy of dog meat. Such a waste.

Erm, yes, @DogInATent , that is kind of my point. I always want to know that the meat I eat is the product of humane animal management. If that is the case, why not let people know.