I was going to write a post today about how deflated I feel after a run in with some customers at our restaurant who have now decided to write mean & untrue things about me (and the restaurant) all over the interwebs.
But I’m not. Fuck them. We had our best weekend ever at The Greenhouse Tavern and I am not going to let some prep school poser punks ruin it for me.
Instead of focusing on their negativity and overall meanness on the interwebs, I am going to focus on how absolutely amazing the last month of our lives have been. We have somehow managed to open a great restaurant. I have met so many fantastic people who not only work at The Greenhouse tavern but who also come in as clientele. I have worked the weekends (as the hostess w/ the mostess) and god damn have I had a good time.
We have so much to be grateful for. The Chef & I. The city of Cleveland’s response to the Chef & our business has been overwhelming in positivity and it seems to grow each week we are open. It has been hard and at times I was really unsure of how we were going to do it. Hell at times I was unsure if the Chef & I were even going to make it. But we did. And everything, the stress, the money, the bullshit, was ALL worth it.
I know that there will be ups and downs. I know that at times I will want to quit. I will want to respond to those negative nellies. I will want to run away. But I will not. I believe in the Chef & everything that he we have sacrificed for The Greenhouse Tavern. And I am sure as hell not gonna let some stupid girl with a bad dye job make me feel bad for doing my job. I’m going to trudge on through the thick and the thin. Good times, bad times. No matter what. We opened a phenomenal fucking restaurant.
For those of you who have been such an integral part of our support system, please know that an enormous part of our restaurant (and it’s success) is yours. It’s all for you. xoxo
I’m a middle school teacher and I have 90 students. They all have two parents and some have step parents too. So everyday I have to make about 300 people happy. I have discovered that no matter what I do, some people are going to be unhappy. It’s frustrating, but I try to remind myself that no matter what I do, some people will love what I do and some people will hate what I do. I am sure you are putting great food on the table!
Kimberly~ YOU ARE SO RIGHT. I need to always keep that in mind. Thank you so much! You completely made my day.
Mean people do suck, but good for you for taking the high road (kind of… hee hee bad dye job).
As you know, I absorb lots of shit every day on the Food Forum. After 14 years, I finally told someone to go “F” himself, and that only made things worse…..
But, boy, do I still feel good about it. On the other hand, the bitch who plagued you the most, is driving me nuts, under a new name. And all I can do is ignore, ignore, ignore.
So….there is my advice…..blow off steam now and t hen, the rest of the time….ignore, ignore, ignore.
You can at least, delete! Or toss the suckers out. Keep track of their nasty names. They will come back , you know.
i am also a teacher and I find myself always focusing on the one or two kids who are not responding to what i am doing, rather than the 40 who are on board and being successful. Keep in mind, you have more fans than foes.
Focus on all of the people who came through your doors this weekend and loved the experience!
ps- Greenhouse has the best burger in town- i still dream about it!
Yep, I would try to be nice and not tell the a**holes to suck it. Umm, I guess that I just did. I saw some of the comments and all that I can say is that it sounded like a bunch of whining “girlymen” to quote Hans and Franz. Keep up the good work and hopefully the whiners will go someplace else so we can still get a seat when we come in.
When you are dealing with the public you must remember that a small percentage of your customers will be a large percentage of your problems and vice versa. A very small number of customers are crazy, rude, or have unrealistic expectations.
The best customer service advice I ever got was from a book called “Knock Your Socks Off Customer Service” They say there is a big difference between a customer with a problem and a problem customer. When a customer has a problem, bend over backwards to help and compensate. When you have a problem customer, fire them if their behavior is completely out of line. No, your servers will not be doing lap dances.
“Play to your strenghts, the peolple who love you and what you have done will be there as much as they can so do something extra to make each visit special for them. Then they will tell your problem customers to suck it, you won’t have to.
One time I was out of town and stopped into a local Asian fusion restaurant. Their lunch special was a lovely bento box with grilled salmon, rice, soup, and salad. Everything was beautifully presented and very tasty. The whole thing cost less than a trip to an all you can eat buffet. Another tourist family sat next to me and the wife spent the whole time bitching about how Wendy’s had better food. The very dignified lady at the opposite table got up to leave, turned to her and told her that if she wanted Wendy’s she should go back home. The point is that you can’t be all things to all people. Always stick to your vision. If someone wants Wendy’s, they won’t get what you and the chef are trying to do.
Your blog and the restaurant are doing more for this region that the haters will ever be able to understand.
LOVE the response. Fuck them. And good for you for taking the high road and not sinking to their level.
I had a similar experience just last weekend…and I decided to not eviscerate them in prose either.
Wow, I wrote a post with the same title a while ago, but focused more on the negative…course it was about my husband, a soccer coach, and a select few soccer parents.
Anyway, good for you for focusing on the positive. and congrats on the restaurant. When I mentioned right after college that I was thinking about going into this business, my uncle pretty much screamed “noooooo!” and he ran a really successful restaurant for like 100 years (Ronnies in Orlando)