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?

This. It always looks petty when the owners start spatting with the disgruntled reviews.

I think you look a little defensive. If it's rose veal from this country isn't it worth pointing that it's ethical? I'm a dairy consumer so it would be hypocritical for me to complain about it.

If its crated veal I would want to know so I could avoid the restaurant.

@foodcritic

if you’re gonna have something like veal on the menu then you’re gonna get some negative feedback on it

tough for you 🤷‍♀️
(but not as tough as what the baby cows have to endure to make it)

You get some strange reviewers. I remember the vegan who had to leave the table nauseated because the people at the next table were eating steak and suggested vegans should be seated in a separate area. 😂

Whilst I believe that many reviews are fake or someone with a grudge, I don't think you can win an argument with someone who leaves a bad review.

the process of veal and foie gras make me feel ill as do the people who eat them

You have no idea how veal is produced these days. If you're going to have an opinion, have an informed opinion.

@Pluvia

it can still be produced in the old barbaric ways unfortunately

tough for you 🤷‍♀️
(but not as tough as what the baby cows have to endure to make it)

And still the ignorance keeps coming.

Honestly, withdraw it. I'm a published fiction writer and I have to face people's comments on numerous platforms. I've learnt, over the years, and as my career has progressed, to ignore almost all reviews - good or bad. There are occasions when it's hard, when I utterly resent that dickhead opinion - but I have never responded. I know it's really hard to sit back and stay detached - book sales are also dependent on ratings and reviews - but it's just not worth it. It makes you look like you care. Why let someone see that weakness?

You absolutely do look petty.

I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out she's never actually dined at your restaurant. It doesn't sound like she actually wrote a food review though just a comment I assume about Foie gras being on your menu? You haven't called her a vegan nut job so just leave your reply 🤷‍♀️.

Because it's obvious why the woman left the review: she disapproves of veal. That's how OP responds to disapproval. If I don't want to consider her review since she didn't eat there then I don't have to. I'm smart enough to decide.

I'm looking for somewhere to eat, I don't want to go somewhere where disapproval or negative feedback gets a petty, unprofessional response. It makes me think the place is run by petty and unprofessional people.

I know exactly what’s involved.

Good luck to most of the posters if you every decide to holiday in France. You will be hard pushed to find a restaurant that doesn't serve Foie Gras, rabbit, veal or a variety of unusual seafoods. Even the schools regularly have squid or octopus on the menu. I'm sure there are people there who occasionally disagree with what is served but fortunately they seem to mind their own business and go elsewhere.

What is the issue with unusual seafoods or rabbit?

I have seen poor reviews in the past with polite but firm answers from owners, and thought "fair enough", but I have to say your response doesn't come across that well to me, either.

Dear XXX, thank you for your input as a non-customer. Customers who have visited our restaurant enjoy this tasty treat and would be most disappointed if we stopped serving it. As our passion is providing our customers with food they love, we have no plans to remove it from the menu.

I have to agree that restaurant owners taking major issue with online reviews is a massive turn off.
However I never, ever want to read reviews of restaurants where the author has not eaten. It's pointless, it's not a review, and in this case it's a disagreement over ethics.
Surely nearly everyone checks out a menu before booking a table these days? (Especially if you have a problem with some foods.) After all, they're all online or at the end of a phone.
Reviews like the one mentioned in the OP come across as a self righteous attempt to shame the establishment just because you disagree with them. And not everyone feels the same way.
BTW, OP -- I too thought this was against TA policy, it comes under 'bad faith' and can be removed. I would investigate further.

it can still be produced in the old barbaric ways unfortunately

Veal crates were banned in 1990 in the UK.

This from AnimalAid:
Veal crates were banned in Britain in 1990 and right across the EU in 2006. Since then, the calves of dairy cows are reared in the UK as 'rose' or 'white' veal. The calves are slaughtered between six months and a year old

White veal calves are raised on milk, as they would be naturally, and slaughtered at around 6 months old. Rose veal calves live among dairy calves — in barns and fields, with a mixed diet — until about a year when they are slaughtered.

I don't know where you're importing your barbaric crated veal from, but it's not from Europe.

OP, I hope you have this information on your menu. I can't believe the number of people here who are so poorly informed.

Your reply is not good and would put me off your restaurant more than the review. I'm another who hates seeing snippy, sarcastic or 'clever' replies to negative reviews and I have on a couple of occasions chosen not to eat somewhere after seeing comments similar to yours.

The original review wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever to my intentions of eating at your restaurant, as it's fairly clear to me the reviewer likely wasn't a paying customer. Anybody who would be upset or offended by veal being on the menu is better knowing that you serve it before they visit, so the review is helpful in that regard.

You absolutely should not have replied, unless you reply to all of your reviews.

I like the replies - as long as they don't make you look like a weirdo which sometimes happens

We go fairly often to a restaurant which attracts negative reviews of 'they wouldn't let us take our dog in'. Er no, because it's a fine dining restaurant and not a pub. These negative reviews make us more likely to book.

The other common negative review is complaining about service - when a manager replies and points out the party was full of rowdy drunks I think fair play to the restaurant.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE VEAL!!

OP has asked if she was right to post her response. She wasn't. Or at least not with that wording or tone. It doesn't matter what the menu complaint was about, OP has given more people reason not to eat at her restaurant, than the reviewer has.

Don't see an issue with your replying, but parrotting her reply in that manner does indeed make you sound unprofessional. As others have said, if your veal is ethical, then make that point concisely, perhaps with a link to a respected source for that information.

Delete your reply and block her from the Facebook page and say no more about it. Some people just love to complain.

@DarrellRiversCriminalBehaviourOrder of course I accept people's rights to hate certain food types on ethical grounds. And I totally understand 'without prejudice' Nothing I've said in response to her is about her food choices, so where have I been prejudicial?

I'd take your reply down OP. That would put me off booking your restaurant way more than the original 'review'.