Restaurant goes viral for cheeky response to customer bay leaf complaint

A woman blasted a restaurant in a bad review after finding “a leaf” in her baked beans — and the eatery went viral for its polite but cheeky response that offered a quick culinary lesson and sparked a heated online debate.

“I ate here for the first time tonight,” the woman wrote in a review for an unidentified restaurant. “The brisket was probably the best I’ve ever had but I found an entire LEAF in my baked beans,” she continued.

“I cannot make this up,” she added with a vomiting emoji.

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The restaurant sent a spicy response addressing the two-star review, according to a screenshot posted on the subreddit r/funny earlier this week.

“So, we’re glad you enjoyed the brisket,” the reply began, before asking, “I’m guessing you’ve never seen bay leaves in your food before?” referring to the dried, aromatic leaves from the bay laurel tree that are commonly used to flavor soups, stews and sauces.

The restaurant continued, “If you see them in the future, you can rest assured that it is a sign that someone spent time and effort cooking your food from scratch. We pride ourselves on making everything fresh in-house, no cans ever. So you will find unique spice blends and herbs being used in our food. That includes bay leaves.”

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Many internet users found the closing line of the response most humorous: “Again, I’m glad you enjoyed the brisket, and I’m sorry the leaf surprised you.”

A majority of Redditors joked on the post, which garnered nearly 2,000 comments and more than 76,000 “upvotes,” that the reviewer must only eat processed or drive-thru food.

“Some people have never cooked anything without a microwave, and it shows,” one person said.

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“What, did they think they took the pot outside to enjoy the sunshine and a leaf fell in? What other option is there other than, ‘That must be an herb or something?'” another user added.

“Waiter!!! There’s FOOD in my food!!” someone else joked. “I wonder how this person feels about salad …” added another.

“I can’t bayleaf this,” another clever comment read.

“People used to fight wars just to get their hands on leaves like this,” another added.

But others argued that the sharp leaves, which experts say can occasionally cause injuries if eaten, should be removed before serving. “If it’s not meant to be eaten, don’t serve it,” one user wrote.

“You put the leaves and other spices in a cheesecloth sachet so they’re easy to remove,” another said.

“I count my bay leaves,” one home cook chimed in. “Chili isn’t finished until I find them all.”

Jessica Randhawa, a California chef and owner of the food blog “The Forked Spoon,” agreed, but said that it can be tricky. “Despite the best efforts to remove stray bay leaves before serving, they sometimes slip through,” she told Fox News Digital.

“The first time encountering a bay leaf in adulthood can be shocking if you don’t know what it is and get that unpleasant taste in your mouth,” Randhawa added.

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But some people called the owner’s reply “smug” or “condescending,” while others met in the middle, saying that, while the restaurant probably should have caught the bay leaf before serving the beans, the reviewer also overreacted.

Randhawa said a polite note about the slip or a discussion with the restaurant at the time would have been fair — but the vomit emoji was “overkill.”

Still, “I’m sorry the leaf surprised you” was praised as five-star sarcasm by many Reddit users. One person applauded the public relations response, writing, “This is how all good business owners respond to negative reviews.”

Natalie Price, a PR and brand expert based in England, agreed the response was effective.

“It was smart and subtle and just cheeky enough to be funny without being rude,” Price told Fox News Digital. “They didn’t attack the reviewer or get defensive, but they owned it with a sense of humor, and that’s why it worked.” 

She added, “People like brands that don’t take themselves too seriously but still handle feedback with care and don’t brush it off, or worse, delete and ignore.”