Restaurant Owner Rejects A Request From Unreasonable Customer Who Wants To Decide On The Menu And The Price

One restaurant owner ended up in a surprisingly tense email exchange after a customer tried to negotiate the menu, the seating rules, and even the price of dinner. What started as a simple question about dietary restrictions quickly turned into a back-and-forth that left little room for compromise.

Attila Yilmaz of PAZAR Food Collective in Australia shared the exchange after an anonymous customer said their restrictions meant they would probably need to eat before arriving, then asked whether they could still sit at the table and just drink. The request set off a chain of replies that got sharper with every message. Read on.

On PAZAR’s website, it states, “Reservations for 7 guests or more will dine from PAZAR’s Collective Feast menu, an 8-course shared menu priced at $68 per person.”

Attila Yilmaz

This probably indicates that what this person really wishes is not to pay. Maybe they do want to eat the food from the menu, but if that’s the case, then they should have chosen a different place to dine.

Yilmaz replied, “Thank you for your email. Our liquor license only covers us for dining customers. All seats occupied by guests of a large group are required to participate in the collective feast. We can accommodate most needs with notice but cannot create 8 courses for very special needs.”

Attila Yilmaz

We are not sure how true this liquor license claim is, but we are not well-versed in Australian regulations. It is more likely that Yilmaz doesn’t want people to feel they can show up at a restaurant, not eat anything, and occupy tables that would otherwise earn him money.

The customer stated that the party would go somewhere else unless the restaurant could provide them with a “lean steak and sweet potato with leaf and sheep’s milk feta or goat cheese salad and charge appropriately, not the feast price of $68.” 

Attila Yilmaz

Yilmaz asked them to explain, replying, “You want to come to our restaurant, don’t like our menu, and hence want to create your own menu and want us to cook that for you at a price you determine is fair? Could you please tell me what cut of meat you would like and what you would like to pay for your dinner?”

Attila Yilmaz

The customer said he is “sensing a little bit of sarcasm.” He mentioned that the group would go to a different place.

Attila Yilmaz

Yilmaz probably should have ended the discussion as well, but instead, he wrote a long email in which he compared a restaurant’s menu to a concert: you wouldn’t go see a band and insist they play different songs according to your wishes.

While his irritation is understandable, it is fair to say that many people have allergies that make planning a meal a real challenge, but they have to eat out because of their friends, business partners, social life, etc. It can be hard to avoid every gathering. Their only choice is to find a place that would significantly alter their dish. But PAZAR is evidently not that kind of restaurant.

Attila Yilmaz

The exchange only got more pointed from there.

This is the same kind of standoff as the friend who turned a restaurant bill into a friendship test over uneven payment.

And the customer responded that he actually works for a caterer.

Attila Yilmaz

Which, of course, provoked another response from Yilmaz:

Attila Yilmaz

By then, neither side seemed interested in backing off.

And finally, the end.

Attila Yilmaz

It’s not inappropriate to ask if a restaurant can accommodate you when you have a special diet, but first see how they serve their dishes. If there’s a minimum price for sitting at one of their tables, they will expect to receive that money from you.

Some customers really do want the whole restaurant on their terms.

Wait, did he really insist on splitting the bill evenly after friends ordered expensive dishes? Read this AITA about pushing for a fair split when pricey plates hit.