When can we officially call something a trend? When it keeps happening over and over again and people are still enjoying it? I suppose so and that seems to be the case with restaurant owners standing up against their own bad Yelp reviews. It happened again, this time at Iron Horse (here is their Facebook page) here in NYC, a noted dive/biker bar known for rowdy female bartenders and cheap beer. (Obvs, I’ve never been there.) But a woman named Megan B. popped in during a trip for Canada and she absolutely hated it:
“Wouldn’t recommend this to eat or for a quiet drink. I met some friends here at 3pm in the afternoon and the music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other. The service was terrible just to get a drink at the bar. The food was also terrible.”
Poor, poor Canadian Megan B. Perhaps she was looking for Molson Golden or some Moose Nachos and when it wasn’t on the menu it really bummed her out, eh? But guess what, Megan B. You’re not in Canada anymore. You’re in New York City and this is what it’s a-boot.
The owner of the bar decided that the bar needed to be defended so a response was crafted that called her out. He even looked up her previous reviews and discerned that Megan B. typically reviews places that are nothing like Iron Horse and he called her out on it:
“It seems you like quiet coffee shops and fancy food, none of which we have ever advertised to provide. Please note our Yelp description even says:
Ambience: Divey
Noise Level: Loud”
He goes on to give her one star as a customer and advises that she “align your expectations with the type of establishment you are visiting, and do more research before you decide on a place that will work for your personal preferences.”
Basically, he then just dropped the mic and walked away and Megan B. has since deleted the review. (God bless screen shots.)
It appears, that after years of Yelpers feeling like they have all the power, restaurant owners are realizing that they can take the power back and make Yelp work for them. I look forward to the next epic take down.
I leave you with the most wonderful Yelp video in the history of time, compliments of South Park. (And if you want a chance to win a free copy of my book, click here, cheap bitches.)
Michael K.
lovin’ it that the reviewer will receive more stars for having a beer with the MANager
Mel
The review seems to have been taken down, but here’s a report of a TripAdvisor reviewer getting their ass handed to them, complete with screenshots. Enjoy!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3410197/Bar-owner-s-devastating-comeback-wedding-party-s-poor-TripAdvisor-review.html
Krista
Thanks for the link Mel. What a great read!
jenn
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/2016/01/21/restaurant-manager-dishes-religious-pamphlets-tips/79104182/
Shawn
So a chick from Canada doesn’t have the right to be as stupid and whiny and delusionally self-important as an American? We don’t say ‘aboot’ up here either. We pronounce it ‘about’ just like everybody else. That said, establishments advertised as ‘divey’ are some of my favourite spots to quaff a few jars. You don’t eat at these places unless you’re already tanked. Those places are for drinkin’.
Elizabeth
I agree with this comment. I’ve never said ‘aboot’ or ‘eh,’ nor heard anyone around me say them, either.
Good luck with your book, Bitchy.
kron
Kudos to him!!!!
Lauren
Haha, the photos on the Yelp page even show it’s a party bar! It’s all Coyote Ugly up in there.
Seriously, what the hell was she thinking when she went to leave a review?
m
fuckin shit yeah
kat
Hey! We have dive bars and biker bars in Canada! And they’re some of the safest places for women to go out to because if any guy starts hassling you suddenly a pack of guys from the bar come up, ask you (the woman) if this guy is bothering you, and chuck him out headfirst. Then they go back to the bar and you don’t owe them a thing. Excellent service at Canadian biker bars! 5 stars!
Dawn
P.S.
He has a few more jems here…js!
http://m.yelp.com/biz/iron-horse-nyc-new-york
jaz
It has nothing to do with being Canadian…that’s her opinion..which is why they have these kind of things to give your opinion on! Here in Canada we read these kind of reviews..and say thank you..maybe the service was bad..probably was..hopefully you’ll come back again…even if the restaurant owner doesn’t mean it! It’s word of mouth..now the manager or whoever responded looks like a jerk. I guess we just have more class here!
Dawn
So, because he stood up for his establishment against a woman who CLEARLY didnt read a discription of said establishment, he looks like a jerk? No, he looks like someone who is completely fed up with the Yelpers complaining all the time and people exaggerating just to get a little attention.
Reginald van der Slythe
Saying you have more class than someone else is not good evidence of the classiness you claim to possess. What’s that aboot, ey?
Paul
Hi, can I order a book and have it shipped to South Africa please?
Nicole
Now that’s what I’m talking aboot.
Krista
Please don’t let this Canadian gal, (with a stick up her boring ass, to paint us all with that brush.
She is alone in her idiocy.
xo
Barreleh
I could see her — or anybody — complaining about the music. If it’s so loud you can’t have a conversation, then it’s too loud, period, ‘party type bar’ or not.
Melissa
You’re an idiot. If you walk in and the music is too loud. Leave.
Sharon
You go to the bar. Within less than one minute you can tell that the music and atmosphere is not a good fit for you. Leave. Take your smart little phone and fine a bar on Yelp or whatever that fits you better.
Complaining that a dive bar is too rowdy is like going to a Victoria’s Secret and giving them one star because they don’t sell flannel night gowns in size 5-X.
Lauren
You high? Sheltered? Tend to go to more divey type bars where the only patron is the local drunk senior in the corner? Bars that have a party type atmosphere usually have loud music. If they advertise they’re noisy, guess what? You’re probably not gonna be able to have a conversation! You don’t go into a nightclub and complain to the DJ that there’s too much bass and that you can’t hear yourself think, do you? Wait, you probably do.
Never leave the house. Please.
Anonymous
Someone’s never been to a club
Paul
can’t wait to read the new book!
George
“[…] Click here, cheap bitches”
LOL. 😀