If you needed any evidence that Yelp reviewers aren't the only people on the website who are terrible at life, look no further.
Chef Bac Nyugen at Cleveland's Ninja City Kitchen was apparently pretty displeased with a customer named Ruchu's negative Yelp review. His response was to find the reviewer on Facebook and send him some truly unhinged, racially-charged messages. Fortunately, Ruchu grabbed a screencap of the whole exchange, so here's a transcript of what went down. All spelling/grammatical errors are Nguyen's own:
Nguyen: Ruchu, thanks for review on Yelp. Great to hear feedback from food experts. Especially when they're here with girls who are not their girlfriend
Nguyen: Do not come back to either of my restaurants ever again.
Nguyen: Little piece of shit
Nguyen: Come talk to me. Fuck head.
Nguyen: Have fun fucking an ugly Indian bitch behind your ugly Asian bitch's back you pussy motherfucker
Nguyen: Btw ramen noodles are not made from soba or buckwheat. You are retarded and have no business trying to trash someone's business when you have no idea what you are talking about. If I ever see you near my restaurants again you will be in trouble. Peace fucker.
Ruchu: you really are something man
Nguyen: Thanks homie see you around
Nguyen: Straight up through if I ever see you near my places of business, we are going to have a discussion. One day when you're not living off mommy and daddy you'll understand. You're ugly and physically weak and your girlfriend is an ugly piece of shit.
Nguyen: *pusheen eating noodles*
Nguyen: (Which is prolly why you're now chasing punjabi puss)
Ruchu: I'm not even going to respond to this. We were there with 4 other people... And no I don't live off my parents. You on the other hand need to respond in a better manner. You are not only putting yourself on the line but also your business. Have you see Hell's Kitchen episode with Amy's Baking Company? You remind of her.
Nguyen: No boy I don't watch tv, I work for a living. Bottom line is that your ass in trouble if I ever see you in person. Trying to trash my business when you know we have mutual acquaintances and you who I am is tantamount to you fucking with me personally. So, I'll be watching you little man. I will be watching you. Peace. Do not respond to this message.
It's worth mentioning that the review is not something I'd ever feature in a Yelpbags; it's perfectly reasonable and talks specifically about the poor food and service (primarily the food). While I may loathe Yelp to its shiny red core, that sort of review is exactly why the website was invented in the first place. Nguyen is apparently claiming that Ruchu went after him personally because they know the same person (wat?), but can't provide any motive other than that, and it seems pretty clear Ruchu just wasn't happy with his meal.
Obviously, this is completely batshit and inappropriate; no matter how much a customer's bad review pisses you off, getting weirdly personal and racial about it is some messed-up bullshit. The story gets even weirder next — Ruchu later responded to the messages in e-mail, saying that the personal attacks on both himself and his girlfriend were uncalled for. Nguyen actually responded reasonably, apologizing for what he'd said. Ruchu then changed the review to update that the chef had apologized, which Nguyen was not happy with (probably because his bad behavior was then on display). He asked Ruchu to remove the update and just leave the original review, which Ruchu was not willing to do. Nguyen then began hashtagging Ruchu's full name in instagram photos, which Ruchu justifiably believed was an attempt to publicly mock him.
After all this, Ruchu started a Ninja City Kitchen boycott page on Facebook, and I have to say, I don't blame him.
Update: Nguyen has officially made a public apology, and wonder of wonders, it's actually a real, legit apology. He doesn't make excuses for himself, he doesn't pull the "sorry you got offended" — no, this is an honest-to-goodness "I done fucked up and it's entirely my own fault" apology.* Perhaps most impressively, he offers everyone involved in the Facebook boycott page a free meal as long as they'll leave a comment card informing Ninja City how they can improve. I'm not sure how he could've done that any better at this point.
* One note: for everyone saying "there's more to this story" and that they knew each other, and trying to get me to change the post to include that information, Nguyen specifically refutes that as part of his apology. He specifically says he thought it was more personal in the heat of the moment than it actually turned out to be.
Image via Ninja City's Facebook page.