Want to support Richmond restaurants? Well then as our parents used to say, shut your damn mouth and eat.

Well, open your mouth and eat, but then keep it shut. Or at a minimum, only open it if you have something nice to say. You get the point.

We are referring to the hyper toxic, review based, entitled, everyone’s a food expert, social media sh*t show modern society has become as it pertains to restaurants. Every adult, or child for that matter, armed with a cell phone and an Insta account has suddenly become a highly lauded food & beverage critic whose views should not only be heard, but broadcast to the entire world. All this despite the fact you probably wouldn’t trust the person on the other end of that Yelp Elite account to empty your trash can, let alone tell you what food to put in your mouth.

Some, strike that, most of these restaurant trolls are the absolute worst. These poor souls seek affirmation through Yelp status, Instagram followers, likes and retweets while their entire modus operandi is to pull themselves up by tearing others down (or to get a free appetizer in exchange for a nice review). These demagogues should be avoided at all cost, not put on a pedestal and celebrated. Yet there they remain, posting their epitaphs carved in granite on the social media tombstones for tomorrow’s restaurant graveyard. And why do you ask? Well, because Becca had to wait a full 5 minutes for her dumpling takeout that didn’t have the extra side of kimchi in her takeout bag, that’s why. If we aren’t careful and continue empowering these lemmings, they will lead the entire restaurant industry over the proverbial cliff. The abuse restaurant workers experience today is enough to drive even the thickest skinned veteran restauranteur to the door.

One really has to wonder: What person in their right mind would want to operate an independent restaurant in today’s world? COVID, social issues, and labor shortages only exacerbate an already brutal industry that in the best of times has profit margins so thin you could shave an afternoon shadow with what’s left over. Then add in toxic review culture where every person with an opinion is armed with a flamethrower disguised as an iPhone, and you have an environment that can easily be confused with hell on earth.

Don’t think it’s that bad? Just look at some of the comments on our recent social media postings about restaurants that have gone out of business. People actually go out of their way to post snarky comments about how terrible, or overrated a particular restaurant was after it’s gone. It sure seems like this behavior is the equivalent of spitting on the grave of a dead body.

So the next time you’re thinking about posting a review or commenting on social media, please remember there are human beings and families behind that independent restaurant you are about to eviscerate. It seems that if we keep it up with the insufferable behavior, there won’t be any independent restaurants left that will tolerate, let alone feed our adorable, but snotty children. Then where the hell are we going to eat?

Peace, Love & Richmond Restaurants!

-The Dogtown Dish