Pexels/Reddit

Sometimes the problem isn’t what someone says. It’s how they say it.

One man stopped at an upscale bar after work and ordered a burger, but suddenly, a few minutes later, her was told they’re no longer serving food.

Nobody told him the kitchen was only taking a short break, so he left and posted a brief review about what happened.

Well, his review triggered a response from the owner, and things went downhill from there.

Rather than explaining the misunderstanding, the owner claimed the staff had already explained everything to him and basically made him look like the bad guy.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITAH for leaving a bad review for a restaurant after they told me they weren’t serving food after I already ordered, while I could see other people eating.

I (46M) am a bit autistic. I walked to an upscale bar at 4:55 p.m. that had like 3 people in it, very tired, pretty hungry, and ordered a burger and started looking at the drinks menu.

After he took the order, and after a few minutes, he came back and told me, “We aren’t serving food at the bar right now.”

I look around, see people sitting at tables with food, and just said, “I guess I am done here,” and went somewhere else.

Upset about the whole experience, he left an online review.

Realizing I just got refused service, I wrote this review:

“I went to the bar after a long week of work, ordered a burger, then I was told they weren’t serving food at 4:55 p.m. What kind of business does that?”

The owner reposted this, “Hey (my name), we’re so sorry to hear you had a long week of work. Our kitchen team had a long afternoon too after serving well over 200 guests for Graduation reservations booked months in advance, hence why a brief 10-minute reset before dinner service began at 5 p.m.”

Obviously, the owner was upset, but he had no idea they were busy.

Then, he said, “What’s confusing is that after your server explained just how busy the day had been, at no point did you ask a single follow-up question about why the kitchen temporarily paused service. A quick conversation in person usually clears things up far better than assumptions made afterward online.”

And, he kept on, “Our team spent the day honoring reservations and executing one of the busiest days of the year. And we’re the kind of business that honors its staff for doing it so well, even if it means angering people like you.”

Keep in mind, I had no idea they were busy. I had no idea it was graduation. They didn’t say it was a 10-minute break and I had to wait 5 minutes.

Now, he feels like he’s been personally attacked.

They could have just said, “The kitchen will open in 5 minutes.” I got this snarky remark, like it was all my fault.

They decided to shut down the kitchen after I ordered. They couldn’t tell me before or as I sat down. I feel like they could have been more polite in explaining the situation. Their rudeness makes it feel like they just wanted to refuse me personally more.

If they had a polite explanation instead of that diatribe that was blaming me for not arguing with waitstaff to get answers, I might have changed the review. This felt like a personal attack.

AITA?

Eek! This whole thing sounds like one big misunderstanding.

Let’s see how the fine folks over at Reddit feel about it.

This person really feels strongly about it.

Great question!

This is how it usually works.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about people who have to go to court to get their land back after their neighbor sells it.

This would’ve also been a great way to handle it.

This response seems pretty harsh if everything happened exactly the way he says it did.

At the same time, though, the owner tells such a different version that it makes you wonder if part of the conversation is missing.

Either way, the restaurant could have explained the kitchen break better from the start.

A little communication usually goes a long way in preventing these types of things.