OPINION: Please Treat Restaurants With Respect

By Chef Alan MacIntosh

***

ASHLAND – A lot of people wont agree with me posting this. People believe that the customer is always right no matter what, that even when the customer is wrong, service industry employees should pucker up and kiss ass to make the customer happy and hopefully make the customer happy.

But I simply cannot and will not do that anymore.

If your gonna order from us and then rant online in a 1 star review about paying $16 for a bowl of ramen that uses house-made broth, fresh noodles, house-made toppings and quality small farm meats prepared daily then go somewhere else!

Our ramen is competitively priced right now during the pandemic, we don’t cut corners, we do it right and it is worth every penny!And no you cannot go to the grocery store and spend $3 and get the same thing!!

If your going to get upset because you had to wait an extra 10 minutes for your food, when restaurants are operating extremely short staffed, then don’t go out to eat! We do the best we can with the staff we have and the technology provided by our POS company…

We average on a normal 150+ ramen per night, all made to order!! On a busy night, we have made over 500 ramen!

If your going to get upset on having to pay .50 cents for takeout counters when you dine it and want to get your food to go, remember we have to pay for the staff, dishwasher, etc for your dine in plates, and then we have to pay for the cost of containers which have all TRIPLED in price in the last 3 months!! Then don’t go out to eat!

You pay for bags when you to the grocery store, but its not okay for a restaurant?

If your going to say we are ripping you off because we charge $2.00 to add 3 pieces fresh baby bok choy to your ramen, then don’t order it. Baby bok choy is almost $70 a case! Vegetables, pork, beef, oil, everything is up between 100 to 500%, but since covid started, we have raised our prices less than $1.

If your going to walk through our door and think that your all high and mighty and going to throw a temper tantrum and shit all over my staff, then you wont be eating at Doragon!

If you are not kind and respectful, your order will be cancelled, refunded and you will be asked to leave!

Our staff is under enough stress and pressure without having to contend with people yelling at them!We are working endlessly to provide the best meal possible to our guests!

We are working with less than half the staff we need, and some of us are working 90+ hours a week

We are doing it because we love to cook for people, and we are doing it to hang on to our dreams!

We really do love to cook for everyone, but if you can’t be kind, civil, respectful, and a little understanding, then please don’t come here.

Making money is important but it’s not worth being yelled at, insulted or demoralized for. We deserve better!!

***

Chef Alan MacIntosh is the owner of Doragon Ramen on Route 135 in Ashland