Chef Calls Out Two "Insulting" Customers who Threatened Him with Yelp

Yet another day and yet another chef is calling out Yelp - or in this case two Yelpers - for their behaviour.

Eater reports that the chef and owner of the Alden & Harlow restaurant in Massachusetts, Michael Scelfo, took to posting a picture of two customers who he says “seated themselves with no reservation” before being insulting staff who asked them to leave and all while, Scelfo says they were holding Yelp out on their phones as a way of threatening him.

Scelfo posted a picture of the duo on his Instagram site with a number of commenters picking up on his original hashtag - #WeDontNegotiateWithYelpers.

Here’s the full comment he made:

“We tried to have them leave, they refused. Taking their drink away and being forceful is not hospitable. So in lieu of calling the police (only other recourse imo) which seemed too strong a response, we opted to kill them with kindness until they left. We as a team endured a ton of abuse but ultimately chose the high road. My choice to post this is not to slander on them per say but to call attention to a major flaw in the current 'online review system & entitled mentality.' Ultimately, it's about protecting the integrity of our (well documented) humble and gracious staff. Feel free to vilify me for posting, but I stand by my post.”

It’s not the first time a chef has bitten back at a Yelper, in fact, it’s becoming quite the rage. One chef was recently hailed a hero for his reply to a customer who wrote a bad review of his restaurant after she demanded he serve her takeout when he clearly stated it’s not something the restaurant does. Another more radical approach came from the Block 16 restaurant who took negative Yelp reviews and turned them into mini movies.

What’s a chef to do?