Maine Sushi Chef’s Viral T-Shirt is the Perfect Response to a Hater

Those who run restaurants know that for as many people out there who love what you do, there are some who don't and aren't afraid to be vocal about it.

Sometimes those folks are vocal about it online. And while the occasional bad review is just part of the gig, it's really in how you handle the haters.

Get our free mobile app

A few years back, Mason's Brewing clapped back at a bad review someone posted on Google.

Not too long ago, it was Yoshi's turn for a bad Google review.

The reviewer had this to say about their experience at the Brewer, Maine, restaurant:

New owner Josh Dyer was the gentleman to whom the reviewer was referring.

Dyer says he was left surprised and speechless by the review.

Dyer spent almost a decade training with Yoshi's former owner and sushi chef, Ting Luc, before buying the restaurant from him last summer.

As he read through the comments posted about the review, he noticed a trend; people kept saying someone should make a T-shirt quoting the review because of how ridiculous it was.

Samantha Casella works at Yoshi as a waitress. She said when she heard about the review, the comment made about Dyer being Caucasian and the comments people were making about the T-shirt idea, she went home that evening, busted out her T-shirt maker and printed one as a joke to cheer Dyer up.

Dyer chuckled and put it on, posing for a picture in it.

Staff from the restaurant posted the picture of the joke shirt to their private social media pages, and within hours, the post had been shared hundreds of times and started to go viral, Casella said.

"We joked we could sell the shirts because the review is so silly ... but then it went viral!"

Casella said by the next day, she couldn't go anywhere without people asking her where they could get one.

"For every one person that is salty ... we made 100 people laugh."

 

Replying to your original unedited review: Father’s Day there were four parties waiting outside to come in as we were opening the doors. Our goal was just to sit everyone as quickly as we could, and it would not be possible for us to know who arrived at the restaurant first. Yoshi staff would never discriminate against anyone. The server that was scheduled to work had a medical emergency so we were doing the best we could under those circumstances. Your table got up, disgruntled, and left without receiving food well within the first 30 mins of us being open, and you quickly left a one-star review, stating as part of your review, “The sushi chef was Caucasian, definitely a red flag for us”. Anyone working Yoshi’s sushi bar or working in the kitchen has been well-trained. Nobody in any instance should be judged by the color of their skin. I only judge by the content of one’s character and your character is in question based on your actions this day.

Dyer says he and Casella were inundated by requests from people to buy the shirt. He alluded to plans to produce a batch, so if anyone is interested in buying one, they just need to stop into Yoshi.