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We love it when a restaurant bites back at a negative online review, especially when said review appears to be inaccurate, misleading, or just plain spiteful.
But of course, you’ve got be clever about it, stay calm and measured, and just dismantle the reviewer’s arguments one by one.
So we really enjoyed this response to a negative review on TripAdvisor from the team at Manchester’s Sugo Pasta Kitchen, which is rated ‘excellent’ by 399 out of 500 reviews.
Just to give you a bit of background, the reviewer in question claims to be a founder of a high street Italian restaurant chain in the UK that doesn’t exactly have a reputation for the finest Italian cuisine.
The reviewer, James, seems to like the Southern Italian food at Sugo, but complains about pretty much everything else: how he’s seated, how the staff are dressed, and the prices.
The staff are “scruffy” and “arrogant” according to James, the restaurant a con and the wine much too expensive, though he seems seem to have surprisingly little understanding of how restaurant mark-ups work, given his background. Oh and he didn’t leave a tip. Read the review below:
Restaurant owner Alex has the perfect response (below) though, fiercely defending the staff, the quality of the produce and the pricing. It’s a great example of how to deal with someone who’s willing to trash a small independent restaurant online, seemingly with little regard for the facts, something we see all too often.
The best response to a negative review ever? It’s certainly up there with this chef’s response to the so called ‘foodies’ who visited his restaurant and started their meal with a bowl of chips.
Don't miss: this guy reads bad restaurant reviews back to chefs
