Restaurant Responds To Bad Review With Stalking And Rant

When it comes to responding to bad reviews on Yelp, one restaurant in Cleveland may have gotten carried away. Ninja City restaurant in Cleveland Ohio received a one-star review on Yelp that complained about the wrong type of ramen noodles used, the "extremely bland...too oily food" and "pretty poor service." In response, owner Bac Nguyen found the reviewer on Facebook and began sending angry, racist messages about the reviewer and his girlfriend and warned "do not ever come back to my restaurants again."

Owner Nguyen has since apologized for the tirade, according to an updated Yelp review posted by the original online critic, but the only hint of the angry confrontation on Ninja City's social media seems to be a passive aggressive post on Facebook saying "haters don't really hate you, they hate themselves because you are a reflection of what they wish to be." Since then, an online group called Boycott Ninja City has popped up urging Cleveland residents to not go to any of Nguyen's restaurants in protest of the way he treated the Yelp reviewer.

It should be noted that Nguyen had acquaintances in common with the reviewer and that many of the attacks in the tirade prompted by the Yelp review seemed to be personal. You can read the full review and response here.   

EDIT: The Daily Meal has been contacted by Ruchu Tan, the poster of the original negative Yelp review.  He confirmed that Nguyen posted a video apology on September 10. After that, Nguyen sent multiple messages to Tan asking him to remove the updated Yelp review. Since then Tan said that the business has harassed him by posting his name as a hashtag on several social media posts, and have mocked protest pages against Ninja City restaurant. 

For the latest happenings in the food and drink world, visit our Food News page.

Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi