Criticism

Once every few months I get up the courage to look at online reviews to make sure we are doing what we should be.  I decided to do just that late last night, probably not the best time as I am already an anxious sleeper.  When you pour your heart and soul into your work, work endless hours and shed blood, sweat and tears (not into the food of course) to create food and a dining experience that represents something that you yourself would truly enjoy, it is a little hard to read a bad review.  That being said, it is good for us to read through the reviews be them good or bad.  It keeps us in line.  We get to see the things that people like and dislike and when necessary, make the appropriate changes.  Criticism is hard to take but I think I secretly like being criticized.  It tends to bring out my competitive side and forces me to keep improving and learning.

I can tell you that most restaurateurs, myself included, are not 100% behind the boom of internet review sites that have become so popular over the recent years.  It is not because we are too arrogant to read them, it is because the system is slightly flawed...at least in my opinion.  Like many other aspects of life, technology has caused us to lose some of the personal relationship between a restaurant and a customer.  For example, often times I come across a bad review and one or all employees involved can remember the specific situation.  We are a small enough restaurant with intimate service and we care, so it should be no surprise that we can remember the specific customer, the table and most of the time the exact order.  The server will remember going over and asking the customer(s) how everything was and clearly remember the response which a lot of times is "everything is wonderful."  In such a case the customer was not happy and instead of telling us that something was wrong, we get a false response and then read about our "lousy restaurant" review later.  Please trust me when I say that we would rather know if you are unhappy so we can do our best to correct what ever is wrong.  If you still want to write the review after that, fine.  You are paying hard earned money for a service and we should be adequately providing said service, I can deal with a poor review if we couldn't make you happy.  Imagine if someone told you that you did a wonderful job at work today and then you over hear them later telling someone what a poor worker you are. 

The hardest reviews to deal with on a personal level are what I call the "blatant" reviews.  Reviews that are a obviously from a competitor  or reviews that are saying false things; they lack respect.  There is more of these out there than I would like, which is to say the least a bit unfortunate.  An example?  In December we had a review posted that reads:

My boyfriend and I ate here on 12.5.10. The setting is cute and romantic. The meat and cheeses are great and beer selection good too. The main courses are flavorless and over priced. Less then half breast of chicken and a few carrots was $28!!! Will not go back. 

I understand our prices are high, I talked about it in my first post Locavore.  I know that our food at the beginning of the month may not be as strong as at the end of the month, I talked about that in the post Creating a New Menu.  I know that our portion sizes are not over-the-top, that is just not our style.  I also know that taste is subjective and we are never going to please everybody.  People like different things, that's life.  Hell I can't stand baked potatoes, apple pie and chili (just to name a few).  How many people do you know that don't like apple pie?!  Anyway, all we ask is that the review is not written with false pretense.  In this case I am positive that we served a whole local chicken breast and none of those breasts were under 5 ounces of meat (the larger ones were close to a half-pound).  I also know that we had more than just a few carrots on the plate, we also served it with a rich potato preparation called pommes boulangere and garlic confit.   I am fine that the person wrote that our food was flavorless and overpriced as that is their opinion, but to exaggerate the quantity of food they had is is slightly disrespectful.  I happen to have a picture of that dish in case you didn't make it in to the restaurant in December...

I would be lying if I told you that we don't get a laugh out of some of these.  We once had one that said we must have sharpened our green beans because the beans cut their throat.  That is hilarious (unless they really did get hurt, then I am very sorry...but you should have mentioned something then).  I understand when a person has a good experience they rarely write about it just as much as I understand almost every bad experience will find it's way to a review site (a little side note, if the review is too rewarding the sites will not post it as the assumption is it was posted by someone involved with the restaurant).  I am a strong believer in constructive criticism and think that these sites, when used properly, can be extremely beneficial.  I would always rather a personal response but again I understand it's not everyone's preferred method.  In the end I hope the system evolves away from disdainful and fictitious reviews because it would be more helpful to me and to you the customer.  Of course, then the only amusement we could get out of reading them is seeing all the things we are doing well, but I think I could live with that...