There is a restaurant in downtown Iowa City that I won't name in this post. I started noticing a lot of negative buzz about "The Restaurant" last night on Facebook. So, during a fit of mild insomnia, I began reading the businesses Facebook page. This is what I learned.
Early Saturday evening, a couple went to "The Restaurant" with their 10-month-old baby. The couple says that they were having drinks before their meal and that folks from a neighboring table were entertaining their baby and making her laugh. Apparently it was a loud laugh, given what comes next. They were approached by the owner of "The Restaurant" who then asked them (referencing the laughing baby) "What are you going to do about this?" The couple claims that they were then asked to leave and they were threatened by a call to the police if they didn't settle their bill first. According to them, the manager escorted them out of "The Restaurant" and agreed that the owner is an asshole.
The couple posted a negative review and description of the evening on Yelp. The story began spreading about the baby who was kicked out of "The Restaurant" for laughing too loudly and that's when it took off. People began filling the business' Facebook page with negative reviews and calls for a boycott.
Then last night, the owner of "The Restaurant" posted his side of the story. He claims that the father appeared buzzed to at least two of the restaurant employees when the family arrived Saturday evening. He said that the couple had already eaten elsewhere and were at "The Restaurant" for cocktails. He agreed that the baby was laughing, but was also screaming and disturbing other guests. So he, the owner, approached the couple's table and mentioned that other guests were complaining and asked for them to do something about their noisy baby.
The owner claims that the husband in this couple then jumped up from the table, began clapping and waving is arms, and screamed "This guy is kicking us out because we have a baby!" The owner says that he told the man to calm down or else the police would be called. The father then apparently began trying to rally other customers around him to leave en masse.
Of course, the father -- who has already publicly identified himself -- is now pissed that he's been accused of taking his baby on a drunken bender and is threatening legal action on the basis of libel.
Lots of people have rallied to one side or the other. A few people say that they were actually at the restaurant when this happened. As is usually the case, these people indicated that there is a little bit of truth in both sides of this story. The baby was laughing, but it's unclear if she was screaming. The owner privately approached the couple and the father began yelling about his baby being kicked out of the restaurant. The couple was then escorted out.
I guess I'm not sure what I want to communicate with this post. It seems like both parties could have handled this a little better. The father could be a little more honest for how he's framing this situation. His baby wasn't being kicked out of the restaurant. It really seems like he was told about customer complaints and then escalated the situation by yelling about his laughing baby. And the owner probably needs to work a bit harder on his people skills, given various older Yelp and Facebook reviews that I've read. And it didn't help that he basically accused the customer of drunk parenting.
Fortunately, it appears from a recent comment on "The Restaurant's" Facebook page that the two men have finally begun speaking to each and have scheduled a time to sit down privately to hash things out. Hopefully they will each practice more humility and offer up a bit of grace during their next meeting.
Early Saturday evening, a couple went to "The Restaurant" with their 10-month-old baby. The couple says that they were having drinks before their meal and that folks from a neighboring table were entertaining their baby and making her laugh. Apparently it was a loud laugh, given what comes next. They were approached by the owner of "The Restaurant" who then asked them (referencing the laughing baby) "What are you going to do about this?" The couple claims that they were then asked to leave and they were threatened by a call to the police if they didn't settle their bill first. According to them, the manager escorted them out of "The Restaurant" and agreed that the owner is an asshole.
The couple posted a negative review and description of the evening on Yelp. The story began spreading about the baby who was kicked out of "The Restaurant" for laughing too loudly and that's when it took off. People began filling the business' Facebook page with negative reviews and calls for a boycott.
Then last night, the owner of "The Restaurant" posted his side of the story. He claims that the father appeared buzzed to at least two of the restaurant employees when the family arrived Saturday evening. He said that the couple had already eaten elsewhere and were at "The Restaurant" for cocktails. He agreed that the baby was laughing, but was also screaming and disturbing other guests. So he, the owner, approached the couple's table and mentioned that other guests were complaining and asked for them to do something about their noisy baby.
The owner claims that the husband in this couple then jumped up from the table, began clapping and waving is arms, and screamed "This guy is kicking us out because we have a baby!" The owner says that he told the man to calm down or else the police would be called. The father then apparently began trying to rally other customers around him to leave en masse.
Of course, the father -- who has already publicly identified himself -- is now pissed that he's been accused of taking his baby on a drunken bender and is threatening legal action on the basis of libel.
Lots of people have rallied to one side or the other. A few people say that they were actually at the restaurant when this happened. As is usually the case, these people indicated that there is a little bit of truth in both sides of this story. The baby was laughing, but it's unclear if she was screaming. The owner privately approached the couple and the father began yelling about his baby being kicked out of the restaurant. The couple was then escorted out.
I guess I'm not sure what I want to communicate with this post. It seems like both parties could have handled this a little better. The father could be a little more honest for how he's framing this situation. His baby wasn't being kicked out of the restaurant. It really seems like he was told about customer complaints and then escalated the situation by yelling about his laughing baby. And the owner probably needs to work a bit harder on his people skills, given various older Yelp and Facebook reviews that I've read. And it didn't help that he basically accused the customer of drunk parenting.
Fortunately, it appears from a recent comment on "The Restaurant's" Facebook page that the two men have finally begun speaking to each and have scheduled a time to sit down privately to hash things out. Hopefully they will each practice more humility and offer up a bit of grace during their next meeting.