I’m impressed by the professional response from Ikigai. When I see responses from businesses on Yelp, they’re usually verbally attacking the reviewer or asking the reviewer to contact the business to set up a comped follow up visit. It’s also more transparent than trying to censor the review by paying Yelp for deletion.
by jt92
30 Comments
I love how the owner had RECEIPTS. Such a detailed, yet professional takedown.
This really sucks though – the restaurant looks fairly new so I imagine the reviewer (Tori S) thought she could get a comped meal off of writing a crappy (and completely false) review.
EDIT: Also, it’s kind of weird to pick a Japanese kaiseki restaurant for your anniversary with your partner who’s allergic to peanuts, salmon, and salmon roe?
The “critic” lost me with their inability to use the shift key. I wrote them off before I even saw the receipts.
This is the kind of energy we need. Proof, receipts, timeline!!!
I live around the corner from a strip mall thai place that blew up in a big way after it got written up by a famous food critic. To be clear, this place rules.
Suddenly there were so many low-star reviews from people with 789 yelp reviews (super reviewers!) with big opinions about how thai cuisine is supposed to presented, the service, the ambiance, etc. Most of said reviewers are from towns 10-20 miles away. This is a restaurant in a strip mall that also has a 7-11 and Pizza Hut.
Most Yelp reviewers are just people who loved creative writing class but never had the talent to get off the ground. Writing about food in an interesting, meaningful way is hard.
So satisfying coming with the receipts!
This user got cooked hotter than the wagyu at 425. Dayum
“Tori S” sounds amazingly fun at parties
Fantastic response from the owner. Can’t argue with time line…
Damn for the final course he cooked and served Tori S 😭
Boom roasted! And in such a classy professional manner
Love this from the owner 👏👏👏
dam well played
Only 5 star reviews on Google. This place sounds 🔥.
She has 3 reviews and all negative. She’s always fishing for that free meal. People like her are terrible for small businesses. All that so she can selfishly get comped. The owner has a play by play refuting all her BS.
r/MurderedByWords
Savage
Great response by the restaurant but really sad it was necessary. Yelp used to be my go to as usually reviews were honest/instructive/had details for me to make up my own mind. Kind of like chowhound back in the days.
Now it seems Yelp is trying to force restaurant owners to purchase advertising packages and such. This may be what is encouraging these self-serving reviews, false negatives? Yelp is no longer reliable to me.
Bleah. They were great for a while.
Just want to say I’ve eaten there and it was an incredible experience!! We went the first week they opened and can’t wait to go back.
Thanks for putting this on my radar. Looks fantastic.
Just to add some additional context, Ikigai operates as a non-profit, with all profits going to an organization that addresses food insecurity. The owner and team behind the restaurant are awesome people bringing some much-needed positivity to the world, which makes what this “critic” tried to do all the more terrible. The class exemplified by the owner in responding to the review was remarkable, and a testament to the restaurant’s values.
Mentioning at the end that they ate all of it is nasty work. Good for them!
Ikigai is awesome and so is the owner! For the
Menu, it is extremely reasonably priced. Their drinks are highly underrated (esp, the one about the captain and ship?). Highly recommend
Ikigai by far the best restaurant I’ve been to all year in nyc. Superior on every level
I was at Ikigai a few weeks ago and everything was amazing im surprised they would have any lapse in service this way- they literally only have like 12 diners at a time.
The owner also took the time to speak to each diner after the service so also weird they held their tongue just to write a review, just communicate!!
My partner and I celebrated our anniversary at Ikigai as well and we loved it. We recieved champagne also but near the end of the meal. Almost all of the food was finished and plated in front of everyone, especially the wagyu. The cooks were skillful and the waitstaff highly attentive, this takedown is proof of that.
If you want to learn the truth about yelp, look up the movie Billion Dollar Bully……
Or the South Park episode that skewers yelpers……..
People like this suck for small businesses. We need a culture of writing good reviews more often to combat people like this.
Amazing that the owner had receipts and served such a respectful response to this nonsense.
Thanks! That review ruined my whole day. It’s incredible how quickly one person’s review changes everything. For example, before that review, we were 5.0 on Resy and one of the few highest rated restaurants on Resy in all of NYC.
my bf and I were lucky to try Ikigai a couple weeks ago, and it was outstanding. The service was really impeccable and no detail was too small.
For example, I switched my chopsticks the other way bc I’m left handed, and they noticed and started positioning things on my left side or replacing my chopstick position also on the left. Once I noticed, I was floored.
Highly recommend!
I have a reservation to go this week and am super excited to try it out! I love what the restaurant stands for and I’m sure they work very hard to ensure everyone enjoys their experience. This person needs to eat at home if they can’t act decently towards hard working people.