Restaurant accepted autistic man’s order and then refused to serve him — the owner’s public response went viral for all the wrong reasons

The hum of the upscale bar was quiet about 4:55 p.m., with only three people scattered across the room. That's why a 46-year-old man with autism (u/thecodemachine) walked in and sat at a barstool, on an empty one, after a grueling week of work. For him, the prospect of having a quiet drink and a burger was the ultimate relief. However, that relief quickly vanished when the server, despite taking his order, refused to serve him food, even though people at other tables were enjoying their meals. Upset, the customer walked out and posted a negative review of the restaurant-bar, unaware that the entitled owner would respond by publicly blaming him. The story, shared on May 23, has received over 6,000 upvotes on Reddit. 

He left a bad review

The man didn't cause a scene at the restaurant. He just walked out and left a bad review online. "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 pm. What kind of business does that," he wrote. Just like most customers, the man had almost forgotten about it until the 'entitled' restaurant owner responded to his honest review.

"We're so sorry to hear you had a long week of work," the owner replied, before accusing the customer of lacking empathy for his staff. He stated that the kitchen staff were exhausted after serving over 200 guests and had taken a 10-minute break before resuming dinner service at 5 p.m. The customer was shocked because none of the staff members informed him about their break. In fact, he was more surprised when the owner said the server had told him about the break, but he refused to show empathy. "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," the owner wrote, further pissing off the customer. 

Lies behind the closed kitchen

The customer explained that at no point did the server inform him of the 10-minute break or the temporary pause. "Their rudeness makes it feel like they just wanted to refuse me personally more," he added. The customer would have overlooked the incident if the restaurant had a polite explanation for refusing service. "I might have changed the review. It felt like a personal attack," he added.

The tone would've made all the difference 

As it turns out, the man is absolutely correct. That's because, according to ScanQueue, the thing people hate the most while they visit a business is waiting; nearly 73% of people hate that. Now that we know this, what makes it better? Well, it's simple: updates. According to another survey held by the Journal of Service Research, 35% precieve reduced wait time, thanks to constant updates. Meanwhile, the complaints, such as the one this customer made, decreased by 40% because of the same. 

Rude today, empty tables tomorrow

In a survey of 1,000 American adults (by Lightspeed's survey), 40% said "rude service" would prevent them from returning to a restaurant. In fact, almost 1 in 5 have walked out of a restaurant because of rude staff. It suggests that customers' decision to return to a restaurant is deeply shaped by their dining experiences, particularly how the staff interacts with them. Now, in the Reddit story, the owner responded to the bad review, thinking it would protect his and his restaurant's image, but in reality, he actually lost a customer, who could have been retained with a different approach. 

Internet called out the owner

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit story, u/pepperyhalibut suggested, "See, I’ve been in the service industry my entire life, so I can bet you money what happened is the server lied to the owner after being asked about the review. Does that excuse the owner's tone? Not really, but I feel like giving him the benefit of the doubt and explaining the actual situation the guest experienced rather than what their server communicated would be good." Similarly, u/great-grade1377 wrote, "It’s not even worth refuting. The entitled attitude of the restaurant owner is enough for me to believe the review."

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