In 2016, I posted about a dilemma I faced regarding a neighborhood carry-out restaurant. “It opened the same year my wife and I moved into the neighborhood,” the post began. “It quickly became our reflex fall-back when we were too tired to make dinner or wanted a treat for lunch….The food was consistently delicious, fresh and authentic… the little Greek lady greeted you with a knowing smile when you walked in the door, and you knew you were going to be treated like a neighbor.”
Then, I explained, a long-time employee who had worked in various jobs there over the years took the restaurant over. He was a nice guy, and I knew him, but though his new, ambitious version of the place seemed to be thriving, the food declined noticeably. After several months of disappointing experiences with our old standby, my wife and I resolved that the next bad meal there would be our last. A carry-out so-called gyro sandwich came covered in a ton of shredded lettuce without onions or the mandatory tzatziki sauce. The young woman who was running the kitchen that night argued with my wife about what the order was supposed to include, saying “That’s the way we always make a “jy-row,” causing my wife to correctly note that NOBODY makes gyros buried in lettuce and with no sauce. “Well, maybe you should find another restaurant then!” she said. Bingo! We resolved never to go back to the place again.
In the post, I mused about informing the owner about our vow and why we had made it, and the commenters here agreed that I owed him the explanation. Somehow, I never got around to it. One time I went into the place to talk to him and the owner wasn’t there. Another time it was so crowded there was no way to tell my story without it being overheard. Now, in 2025, that restaurant that was once such a regular feature of our life in the neighborhood hadn’t served a Marshall for nine years.
Today I have a house guest, and he suggested we go out and “grab a sandwich.” The closest and most convenient place was our old reliable restaurant, now lodged on my blacklist. I decided, “Oh, what the hell!” So I took my guest to the little restaurant I had vowed never to visit again. Sure enough, the same owner was there, amiable as ever. “Haven’t seen you here for a while!” he said cheerily. I was amazed he remembered me. “You’re right, ” I said. “And I owe you an explanation.”
I told him about the tzatziki sauce. “I know exactly the woman you’re talking about,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I fired her. You weren’t the only customers she offended.” “No,” I said. “I’m sorry. I should have told you about the incident right after it happened. And I feel badly about not coming back after that for all this time.”
My guest and I ordered two sandwiches , and sat down at a table to wait for the order. When they arrived, they were accompanied by a huge, beautiful Greek salad. “On the house!” the owner said.
Well, the food still wasn’t as good as it used to be under the old management.
Nevertheless, it felt good to be back.
Ethics Alarms 
Reading this made me smile. And it makes me want to consider revisiting a couple of local eateries I have on my own “dead to me” list.
We’ve had our share of Never Again restaurants, but never one in which the owners recognized and missed us. How awkward. I’m glad you were able to connect with the owner again. Not sure how you would or even should convey that the quality has gone down.
“Not sure how you would (1) or even should (2) convey that the quality has gone down.”
1-Good point; certainly not confrontationally, but not obsequiously, either.
2-Knowing customers are their lifeblood, any owner worth their salt wants constructive criticism. They know they can’t please everyone, but they also know that if they don’t properly tend their customers, someone else will.
What happens to a business’s customers? Some of them die, some move away, and some find a better provider or lose interest in what you offer. But a significant number of them don’t return because of a (real or imagined) rude or indifferent employee.
PWS
“Knowing customers are their lifeblood, any owner worth their salt wants constructive criticism.”
Yes, and on the very few occasions when I’ve offered criticism it went something like this: “I’ve worked in the service industry myself and I truly want you to be successful because we need good restaurants around here. May I offer you some feedback?”
Well, as I explained in the original post, the place was originally operated by a Greek family and the best offerings were the Greek selections, like the souvlaki, the baklava and the gyros. Not to suggest that only Greeks can make good Greek food, but the owner isn’t Greek, though he worked in the original place, and the differences in those dishes were apparent immediately. Also he put an emphasis on the bottom line, so in many instances (the cheese steak subs, for example), the ingredients were (and are: I had that yesterday) inferior.