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?

If you need to reply- and I can understand why you want- I'd make it less snarky.

I usually buy veal in France at good butchers' shops, where they are careful about where they source their meat.
I look for ones which advertise 'veau sous la mère' -- in other words a suckler herd where the calves are kept with the cows until they are weaned, and are generally out in the fields, at least after winter. There are often photos of the herd and explanations on the shop walls.

It is similar to rose veal but with some extra strictures, I think.

Take your reply down OP. Lots will think "ooo Veal, that's unusual" and come for dinner. If you have an ethical supplier make sure you highlight this - rose veal is better than the alternative for the calves

I agree that I often read the worst reviews as it can give an idea of likely annoyances, but also show if a restaurant etc is truly great when the only bad reviews are things like "everything was delicious but when my baby shat on the floor the selfish waiters expected me to clean it up". When the only complainers are idiots it's actually a good sign.

Give your potential customers some credit.

I think potential customers read more into the way a business responds than the actual review itself. I'm another who agrees with this though, I'm sure in real life you're jolly nice OP but it makes you sound sarcastic and rude. If you wouldn't say that to someone's face don't say it online in a professional capacity.

I don’t think your response was petty. I think it reflected the tone of the review.

@foodcritic I'm not a business owner but I am a GP practice manager and have responded to Google reviews. It's a really tricky line and to a certain extent you're damned if you do and damned if you don't respond. However, I always try and respond to negative reviews with fact rather than opinion.

In your case I might say:

Thank you for your comment. Our menu has a range of options for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. All produce is carefully sourced.

I'd leave it at that.

But the OP hasn't even HINTED at what the menu item is! And not all veal is cruel. Male cows are often killed at birth when born into a milk herd but the veal industry takes those boys, raises them and then slaughters them. They die anyway but they have a life. You can't say you object to veal but then tuck into a bacon sandwich or steak or fish and chips!

As for the OP who said she had changed a whole booking because they had octopus on the menu and viewed them as clever animals who shouldn't be eaten I'm going to assume she is now 100% vegan as all animal in the food chain have thoughts and feelings and her response to one menu item was overblown and slightly ridiculous.

And totally leave your response up OP. I'm sick of people thinking that they have the right to share every negative peanut thought without comeback. Your response was absolutely OK.

If it's fois gras, then suck it up

😬

I agree with her review, I wouldn’t support a business that sold the flesh of a very young animal, the veal industry is an unethical one. It’s important to highlight unethical issues as a society.

The fact that it reflects the tone of the review is what makes it bad. It's playground stuff. Really childish and offputting.

I’d change your response to something along the lines of “we appreciate veal may not be for everyone however we pride ourselves on a wide menu with plenty of other choices including vegetarian/vegan (if you do). We’d look forward to welcoming you to our establishment so you can experience our cuisine for yourself “.

The reason sarky replies put me off is it makes me think if I had a genuine issue, you would just ignore it or be dismissive and sarky. Some business owners seem to think they can never do anything wrong.
I agree with the person who said that if there are only negative reviews from idiots it is a good sign.

So you never buy anything from supermarkets, fast food, convenience stores, most farms, most restaurants, probably 95%+ of businesses that sell food?

If you're in Business though you have to accept the bad a long with the good. Complaining customers in Business I'm afraid that's the nature of the beast. You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people all of the time. . Not everyone is going to be blowing smoke up your arse every waking moment.

We changed a big celebration meal booking to another restaurant because we saw the first one has a dish with octopus, and we feel strongly such intelligent amazing animals shouldn’t be killed for food.

But presumably you were happy with them serving chicken, beef, pig, lamb, fish etc?

Gosh there are some hypocrites on this thread!

Do folk understand that veal calves only live long enough to make it to your plate because they are not shot at birth? If you eat dairy you don’t get to be funny about veal.

The ethics of veal aside, I'd remove that.

It comes across as scrappy, unprofessional and immature. I would be put off by it.

She hasn't claimed to have eaten at your restaurant, only to have seen the menu. It doesn't matter that she hasn't. She's found your use of quite a controversial ingredient offputting. You must've known that people might do so when you chose to serve it.

Why not reply in a more measured and courteous manner? Explain how the veal is ethically sourced if indeed it is, or a more generic statement as suggested upthread.

@SiobhanSharpe it's not TA it's Google - need to see if the same thing applies. Will look into it

@saraclara thanks for pointing out - it's not about the dish, it's about my response.

And on reflection I've deleted it. I responded in haste and it does look petty. Whilst I don't agree she should be able to review us without first hand experience, I think it's evident from her comment that she's not eaten with us but picking up something on the menu. And maybe that's not a bad thing.

As this thread shows some dishes are quite polarising and I wouldn't want someone coming in who didn't know we do veal and then feeling incredibly uncomfortable about it being eaten around them, so maybe if that review prevents that happening - maybe it's for the best.

For the record we are very happy with our supplier and the ethical standards they meet, and whilst I appreciate some people on here feel we shouldn't sell veal, I can categorically say we won't be removing it from the menu any time soon.

Responding is fine, but keep the tone professional. Your response is childish and inappropriate. It would put me off your restaurant in a way a measured, professional response wouldn't.

Would it bother you less if she wasn't local? What if it was some tourists who looked at your menu and left a review? Just trying to understand why you're het up about this. Do you feel she's pursing you?

I'm afraid that I also avoid restaurants where they get into arguments with reviews, I cannot stand the drama. I understand that it's your business and it's hard to stay detached but most people just want to eat somewhere nice, not worry about confrontational owners/staff.

If you really can't leave it then look into getting social media training like a pp suggested.

I agree with your action.

But 1 bad review is fine. It just makes your reviews look genuine.
If they were all five star and no complaints I'd think they were lying

Yes they do, because being short at birth is waaaaaayyyy preferable to being locked, terrified, in a dark glorified bin, unable to move and THEN be shot at 20 weeks. And I say this as a non-vegetarian. We are all allowed to have whatever moral lines we want. Veal is messed up as a meat process.

OP - I'd delete your reply. It sounds really unprofessional. I would also report the review if they haven't eaten there - though be mindful if the animal activists get wind of censorship is could start to snowball.

The astounding ignorance of so many posters who haven't even bothered to look into how a food they apparently boycott has actually been produced since the 1990s.

How embarrassing.

As a bare minimum, if I didn't work in the industry, I would look into how veal was produced before posting about it so surely on a public forum.

Eating veal is actually a positive ethical choice to make if you are otherwise a meat/dairy eater. It uses up a byproduct of the dairy industry which is male dairy bull calves. Because of rose veal there is now a market again for them.

Indeed we are currently in discussions with a local dairy farmer to take his dairy bull calves off him to raise as an addition to our current suckler beef system.

I really hope those objecting to veal aren't tucking into cheap chicken dippers or danish bacon...

Probs a good choice. I.look at the bad reviews of places and when the only bad ones are insane ones it's a good.sign

And I'd absolutely go out of my way to eat at a place that sells ethical veal.