Can hostility be good for your restaurant’s rep? We take a look at a few restaurants infamous for their bad behaviour. How do these establishments get away with it, and is this a strategy other owners can learn from?
The BBC UK has identified a Chinese Restaurant in London as one of The restaurants that thrive on insulting its diners. According to the article, Wong Kei has been named ‘London’s rudest restaurant’.
‘Its patrons were cajoled, bullied, insulted and mocked by waiting staff. Perversely, many diners loved it. Each night scores would queue up at the 500-cover restaurant to be verbally abused over the chicken satay and pork fried noodles,’ the article reports.
Time To Change?
Although attracting a few supporters of its unusual style, the eatery has promised to change its ways, providing friendly service to patrons. ‘We’re trying to change the image to be better – good food, good service,’ says Maylee McDowell, operations manager at Wong Kei.
Russell Norman, from BBC Two’s The Restaurant Man and co-owner of six central London restaurants, said he visited the famous Coach and Horses, a pub in Soho, London, whose unorthodox barman, Norman Balon, would frequently shout insults at patrons.
‘You’re so ugly you’re upsetting the customers’, ‘The beer is meant to be cloudy – I suggest you go elsewhere’, and ‘You’re too boring to be in my pub’. The onslaughts were seen as a kind of performance art, rather than bad service.
Norman said he would visit Wong Kei occasionally for a laugh, but warns restaurant owners against trying to copy this kind of strategy. He says most customers won’t appreciate this kind of service.
‘If it’s part of the deal, it’s legitimate, it’s a form of entertainment, but if you are not expecting it and you walk in and you’re abused, it’s horrible. Just the wrong comment from a waiter can completely ruin the whole experience.’
In the US, Dick’s Last Resort, a small bar and restaurant chain, encourages its staff to be obnoxious, throwing insults and abuse to patrons is part of the job. The restaurant style emerged after an attempt at opening a fine-dining restaurant failed, the owners decided to take it the other end of the scale, and ‘go sloppy’. It’s proven to be a success, boasting establishments in 15 cities.
Similar shock tactics can be seen in The Wieners Circle hot dog stand in Chicago. The popular stand, known for its good food but bad attitudes, received its own TV show back in 2012, featuring some vulgar language and wild antics. Even more publicity was attracted through the appearance of Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock’s Kenneth Parcell, when Triumph the insult comic dog was unleashed.
On Yelp the place receives a high 4.5 stars. James H from Chicago said ‘This is the best traditional-style hot dog place in Chicago’, while Greg M from Strongsville said if ‘given the choice between Weiner Circle and sex, I would choose the Weiner Circle. It’s that good.’ Many of the low ratings come from customer who didn’t expect or appreciate the insults; others not so enthused about the food. Gary B from Chicago said “the food is sub par at best.”
Sam Wo’s Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, closed in 2012, but it had a long run. According to NBC News, San Francisco’s ‘world rudest waiter’ restaurant Sam Wo shuts after 100 years. Old patrons of the diner said the owner would throw dishes, abuse customers and give any complainers an ear full.
The article describes the place as a traditional Chinese eatery, reminiscent of the acclaimed ethic eateries, popular in the city before the foodie scene exploded. A caterer who had dined at Sam Wo’s since 1977 said he wasn’t sure whether the outbursts were genuine or an act, but either way it was an entertaining dining experience.
David Ho, descendant of the original owner, shut down the restaurant after officials stipulated the need for substantial health and safety upgrades.
Food digital reported on how Amy’s Baking Company Cashes In on Bad Name with Merchandise. The company was featured in Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, the owners fought with the restaurant guru, stopping him from transforming their restaurant. The story exploded on social media, inevitably to the determent of the owners and the bakery.
Amy and Samy Bouzlago then tried to make some extra cash from the disaster by essentially poking fun at themselves with merchandise such as T-shirts imprinted with ‘I survived Amy’s Baking Company.’
Food Digital points out the major differences between a disaster such as Amy’s Bakery, and the successful misbehaved restaurants. Although these restaurants are known for their fowl-mouthed servers, the difference is that they offer bad service on purpose. It provides entertainment for patrons and is one of the reasons they choose to go there. The other reason is the quality of food. Where Amy’s Bakery doesn’t have much to offer in this regard, clearly the food at places like Dick’s Last Resort and The Wieners Circle hot dog stand is highly enjoyed by customers.
Bad service seems like a good way to get on television, but not always for the right reasons. At the end of the day, publicity gets your brand out there, but if it’s not your speciality, used to enhance the dining experience and entertain customers, than it should be left for the reality TV stars. Behave badly only if it’s your thing and the food makes it worthwhile, if not, spare us all the pain, and keep service up to standard.