round the horn toronto

Toronto bar owner fires back at one-star review saying she's lost in her ways

One-star reviews are not something bars and restaurants need right now, and a Toronto bar owner has fired back at someone who left one.

"The owner is lost in her ways," begins the one-star review of Round the Horn which the owner posted to the bar's Instagram.

A TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) at the top of the review sums up complaints of not accommodating a seating arrangement, that "the bald waiter was rude and obnoxious," that the owners aren't meant to be in the industry, and basically that the staff were rude and service was bad.

The review continues to explain at greater length that the reviewer wanted to go to the bar for a drink with his "elderly" father who wanted to watch the tennis game.

They were sitting at a four person table, and were asked to move to a two-person table farther away from the TV. They refused, saying the father was making friends with others nearby and that they would move if a party of four came in, but the bar still requested they move.

The reviewer proceeds to say that they doubt anyone would come in within the next 2o minutes on 4 p.m. on a Monday, it only takes 30 seconds to flip a table, that the bar was in a "shambles" and that they decided to leave "in a hurry."

"A message to the young lady who owns the place: realize you're in the SERVICE industry," the review reads.

"I've been in the service industry for 25 years, I think I know my business," Round the Horn owner Kristin McNeill tells blogTO.

"The reviewer was rude and aggressive towards me and my staff from the start, refusing to move to a smaller table. He couldn't understand why I kept bringing up the last two years as an excuse and told me he wished I would lose more business. His 'elderly' father swore at me and called me clueless."

As she had predicted, the patio was full within 20 minutes of the two people leaving. McNeill says that for the most part people coming to the bar have been very understanding and empathetic, especially when it comes to the current state of the restaurant industry.

"For someone to complain and leave a one-star review in which he attacks me personally over something so small is ridiculous. And to do so in such a condescending, misogynistic manner, it's just too much," says McNeill.

"I think people need to be more considerate before posting one-star reviews. Especially when reviewing small businesses in industries that have been decimated over the last year and a half."

Lead photo by

Jesse Milns


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