So I have been sitting on this review for quite sometime now. I went to
Mayberry about 2 or 3 months ago with the normal group I do lunches with on Thursdays. We went because we heard great things about it and had high hopes for their burger. Well I am sad to report, that I did not like their burger at all. Granted, I did not get it with the pouched egg on top, which might have put me over the top to possibly liking it, BUT the reason I didn't like it is because I am not a huge fan of meatloaf. That is the best way I can describe the taste of their burger, way too meatloafy. But if you do enjoy yourself a nice meatloaf, then I bet you will absolutely love their burger.
Since then I have heard of other good items on their menu (like their sloppy joe or as they call it the sloppy josh) and have not had a chance to go back. To me, if you can't make a good burger, you probably can't make anything I would like. Don't get me wrong, half of the group seemed to enjoy the burger (since we all got one), but it just wasn't for me.
I felt like I had to do a review because so many people were singing their praises and I felt like people needed to hear the other side. So there, I said it and you can't make me take it back!
You know I must say that if your reasoning in life is the same way as your reasoning on restaurant reviews im sorry. Just because you don't agree with a preparation of a dish you choose to totally dislike the restaurant. Seriously!!! So if you walk into a department store and see certain clothing you don't like, do you not like that store anymore? I'm more offended on your ignorance than anything. As a small buisness owner I don't expect everybody to like what I make 100% of the time but everyones taste are different. You choose to dislike my restaurant because you don't like the burger. And then you assume that the rest of the menu isn't up to your taste,WOW!!!
ReplyDeleteJoshua Campbell
Chef/Owner World Food Bar LLC.,Mayberry
josh@worldfoodbar.com
Sorry if you took the blog that way. I was just saying it wasn't for me, half seemed to enjoy it and one of those two goes back and tells me only great things about your place. I went there solely for the burger as I do most places I review and I didn't like it. I doubt you will be able to please every person that walks through your door and honestly I am shocked at your response to my blog. I was thinking about coming back to try some other items and review those, but I doubt I will be back now.
ReplyDeleteSorry you took my blog to be a nasty review of your restaurant, I didn't try to make it sound like it was an awful place, just that the burger tasted like meatloaf (which to some people, that could be a good thing). I only wish you great success with your business.
RE: Joshua.
ReplyDeleteGoogle alerts are a very cool thing, but you sir are abusing them. To attack a customer on the comment section of a small blog mostly read by close friends and family members is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I have even seen. You are a small business owner, and you are very proud of what you have created, but your professionalism needs a little bit of work. I am saddened by the fact that you feel that you are getting back at someone (who paid money to eat at your establishment) by questioning their opinions. Perhaps a better thing to do would have been to offer Corey a discount on another item in hopes that he would enjoy that dish, write another review, and bring in new customers. Now of course, I will never go to this restaurant, and I will tell everyone who asks not to go here as well. I will not mention the burger that tastes like meatloaf (which actually sounds delicious to me), but I will tell everyone about the owner who can't take quasi-criticism and has no sense of customer service. Just so am sure that you read this, MAYBERRY.
-Matt
I.HAVE.NO.WORDS.
ReplyDeletethis is the most bizarre and ridiculous thing i have ever read! i have never even HEARD of this place but can tell you i will never go. THIS IS HIS PERSONAL BLOG, he is not a professional food critic. to compare his reasoning in life vs his reasoning of a burger is not only completely absurd its just RUDE. you sir, are RUDE. if YOU handle life the same way you handle a comment on a hamburger...then i feel sorry for you. I myself am a small business owner, i own a hair studio in Hyde Park. I cannot IMAGINE getting on someone's personal blog and calling them ignorant because they thought my shop was great but they didnt like the products i used. As matt said, instead of losing a customer this was your great moment to figure out how to get Corey back into your establishment. You however failed to see that opportunity and lost numerous customers in the process. Someone once told me a satisfied customer will tell two people but a disgruntled customer will tell ten. YOUR IGNORANCE OFFENDS ME.(and i love meatloaf....too bad)
Amanda Arias
www.bellareysalon.com
amanda@bellareysalon.com
(i figure as long as you TRIED to be professional, so would I)
See this is where everything gets blown out of proportion. I can take criticism all day. But when someone writes "To me, if you can't make a good burger, you probably can't make anything I would like." My comments were strictly based upon that and the fact you choose to dislike a restaurant and publicly post it to not just friends put to all of urbanspoon for one dish. My staff and I work hard everyday to make sure customers are happy and satisfied. I could understand if the service sucked or it took an extreme amount of time to get there food or the order was messed up. I personally would have been extremely embarrassed and would do anything to make the situation right. And I would have been even happier if the dish was brought to our attention and we would have replaced it immediatley with something more to that customers liking. By the way there are no google alerts on my computer for Mayberry I browse through all the web at the end of the day because I do care about what customers have to say and review customer comments with my staff so we don't make the same mistakes. This is for the benefit of everyone that chooses to walk through our doors.
ReplyDelete"I'm more offended by your ignorance than anything"
ReplyDelete-you
"You know I must say that if your reasoning in life is the same way as your reasoning on restaurant reviews im sorry"
-you
my comments were based strictly on that.
WHO SAYS THAT?!?
you handled ONE negative review in a completely unprofessional manner. People see unprofessionalism a mile away.
i also saw another negative review on urbanspoon i believe, the lady with the broken foot. did you get on her facebook and respond to her?!?
deal with it.
you wrote it.
own it.
You cant please everybody all the time.
Your restaraunt isnt going to close bc of his little review in his personal blog.
The funny thing is you say you browse so you and your staff dont make the same mistakes. this wasnt a mistake, his taste buds didnt agree with your burger.
your bat s#*t crazy response....THAT was a mistake.
No more. this is juvenile at best after this point.
Where did my comment go? The one about your Arnold's review being "really liked it" despite their bad burgers, etc.?
ReplyDelete-BFJ
I think it got lost in the site transfer, how did you even know this new site existed? Just curious ... feel free to write the comment again.
ReplyDeleteI saw the original post was missing, looked at the "contributors" in the right hand column of the previous blog, clicked on "Corey" and noticed there was a blog in there with a food sounding name. I e-stalked my way over here ;)
ReplyDelete(reposting, what I can remember)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give any reviews on this site any credence as the previous "Arnold's" review said:
"The burger was a little on the burnt side and the BBQ sauce had a STRONG hint of mustard. I HATE mustard! Mustard can ruin any burger for me. I can taste it from a mile away. The fries were too potatoey, they just weren't cooked enough for my liking." and went on to say that you were looking forward to visiting again and gave it a "really liked it" rating on urbanspoon.
In contrast, on this review you said "if you can't make a good burger, you probably can't make anything I would like" and gave it a "did not like review."
The review also didn't mention anything regarding atmosphere, menu selection (other than third party references) or service, and based the whole review solely on a single dish you didn't particularly care for.
There was some other stuff in the original post but I can't be bothered to remember it.
-BFJ
thanks for e-stalking, but the reason I gave Arnold's a "really like" is because I love the bar. I am a beer fanatic and have gone there plenty of times for events such as Bock Fest. I would not go there for their burger, hence the review. It wouldn't be a restaurant I would think to go for the food, even though their new $4.99 menu is very enticing, where as Mayberry's was a very expensive meal, $8 for the burger and $1.50 for a 12 ounce can pop.
ReplyDeleteIf you continue to read my reviews, you will see that price ways very heavy on my opinions. If it is expensive, it better be top of the line. If it is a good price, then it doesn't have to be out of this world good.
PS: I do hate mustard : D hope that is OK with you guys ...
If that's your position that's fine, but again, that isn't what you said.
ReplyDeleteHere you just said regarding Arnolds: "It wouldn't be a restaurant I would think to go for the food, even though their new $4.99 menu is very enticing"
But in your Arnold's review you say:
"It still was a great experience, I would love to go back and try more of their large $4.99 menu."
The real crux of the statement here is that your reviews don't really mean anything because they clearly aren't based on any sort of measurable criteria -- it's almost as if you decided what the review would be beforehand and then just wrote about what food was there from that perspective.
-BFJ
im in the middle of a full blown panic attack
ReplyDelete"your reviews dont really mean anything"
for gods sake!
the measurable criteria is what your opinion is on what you ordered the day you ordered it.
this is like the effing twilight zone today
You should relax if you are panicking, it's just the internets!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, "your opinion on what you ate" is a good criterion if you were say, writing a review for "XYZ restaurant's burger", but not if you are writing a review for "XYZ".
It looks like you work for a salon, so let's put it in perspective. Let's say I come into your salon and ask to get my brown hair colored blonde. You color my hair as requested, and it looks blonde just the way anyone would expect. I pay and leave.
Next I go online to a site that reviews salons in the area. I put up a review and say "I went to Bella Ray salon and they colored my hair blonde and I didn't like the way it looked. I would not recommend this salon to anyone. To me, if I go to get my hair colored and I end up not liking the color, there is no way they could be good at styling hair either."
This, despite when I left I gave you no indication that I was dissatisfied with the color of my hair.
It seems a little unreasonable to judge the ability or quality of an entire service based on 1 facet of the overall picture, I think. In the above situation, I would expect that a customer would tell you that they didn't quite like the color of their hair, and you would probably do everything you could to help them get it the way they liked it. If they don't say anything to you though, you don't have that opportunity.
-BFJ
I'm with you, Amanda. I'm aghast at the unprofessional behavior demonstrated by the Mayberry owner. I've frankly never seen that happen to any food blogger before.
ReplyDeleteJosh, you're well within your right to react as you did to his review. It's a free country, after all. But I'm disappointed you don't have a thicker skin. My God man: about 4 gazillion people have given you positive reviews, but you stew (hey! nice pun!) over the two or three people who've posted opposing viewpoints? Is that using the power of social networking to your benefit?
Relax and rejoice in your meatloaf. :)
BFJ said: "I would expect that a customer would tell you that they didn't quite like the color of their hair, and you would probably do everything you could to help them get it the way they liked it. If they don't say anything to you though, you don't have that opportunity."
ReplyDeleteUh, no, typically you wouldn't complain too much about your food at a restaurant lest you want something like this to happen (and believe me, it DOES happen):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEXKArTx5sw
When you post to Urban Spoon- you are making a public position known.
ReplyDeleteIt should be substantiated and it should be honest. Saying you didn't like it is fine- and why- but one meal isn't a way to judge a restaurant, and when you tell a chef how to prepare the food- it's no longer his cooking.
If you don't like it- or were given poor service- fine, but the rant about if you can't cook a burger- you can't cook- is an attack on everything on the menu.
This is a food blog- hence the title "hold the mustard"- and dinging a small biz on Urban Spoon for the reasons stated was lame.
And remember- you are talking about this mans ability to make a living. Every other reviewer says positive things- so, not to worry- but please, think twice before posting such lameness.
I am glad that you share your opinions and experiences; the point of Urban Spoon is so foodies like us can discover hidden gems and be wary of sub-par or overrated offerings. However, I must agree with those that are busting your chops due to your seemingly unfair panning of an entire restaurant based on your dislike of one item. Your statement "I felt like I had to do a review because so many people were singing their praises and I felt like people needed to hear the other side" belies the fact that your impressions were going to be contrary just for the sake of being contrary, and not an honest opinion of the establishments offerings as a whole. Everyone has had a subpar meal at an otherwise excellent restaurant, and since these are your feelings of one menu item and not your feelings about the ambiance, the service, the menu, or the restaurant as a whole... well, it seriously devalues the relevance and influence of all of your opinions, which devalues the utility of your ratings. Your review would have been infinitely more honest if it was titled something akin to "Didn't like the burger". Something more thoughtful would have been much more helpful to me and pretty much everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ryan for commenting. The point of Urban Spoon for me is so that people can view my blog and see how my experience and meal was. Most of the time I do a review on a restaurant after going there for the first time, and if I go back I may even do a second review on the place. But at no point do I try and tell people about everything that goes on at the restaurant or pretend to know everything about every item on the menu or every worker who works there. I just explain my experience as best I can and let the reader take what he or she wants from it. It is called an opinion for a reason.
ReplyDeleteNow I could do a review on the per fact of terrible customer service of Josh and how poorly he handed my review. But until now I have really let it go. But do you expect me to ever want to give Mayberry another try after the way he attacked me on my own blog about my own opinion?
WOW I just so happened to stumble across this blog because I had seen people recommending Mayberry as a good burger place and I wanted to see why this blogger didn't like it. I was writing a list of restaurants to try, and Mayberry was on that list. Until I saw this review. I can not believe that the owner attacked this food blogger. People are allowed to have opinions. I was just outright stunned that the owner reacted in that way, and therefore I will NEVER go to this restaurant, and I too will not recommend it to anyone. And I understand where you are coming from Hold The Mustard, this is your own personal blog and you have the right to state your opinion about any food at any restaurant! I was also ABOUT to go there strictly because of the burger, and if I did not like the burger... I would write that in my blog. And it makes sense to me that if you went to a restaurant specifically for a particular menu item, and were not impressed, that you probably wouldn't go back. Why would you (the owner, or anyone) EXPECT someone to return to a restaurant if their first experience was bad? I mean sometimes there are reasons to return, but logically it makes sense that if it is bad once you may not want to go back. So stop attacking this poor blogger! That was probably the most unprofessional thing I have seen in a long time.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO ENTITLEMENT to going through life and not having your feelings hurt.
ReplyDelete1) The response from the owner was definitely poorly handled. He could have easily made the same points in a more courteous manner. For instance, "I'm sorry that you didn't like the burger, but I hope that you will not judge our entire restaurant based on one dish. We try hard to make sure our guests are happy, and hope that you'll take the opportunity to revisit us and try something else."
ReplyDelete2) However, all the blogger's friends coming to his defense and referring to this as a personal blog is also a bit unreasonable. If the blog was just a personal blog, he wouldn't be on the Urban Spoon network. Being on Urban Spoon makes it a bit more than a personal blog.
3) And while the owner definitely handled this situation incorrectly, I do think it is a bit silly to dismiss an entire restaurant based on one dish. And even more so when you do so publicly on Urban Spoon.
As with most arguments, both sides have valid points.