Last night I posted a negative comment about Doreen's Pizzeria in Dyer. I mentioned some of their employees were not wearing masks as required, and how I felt about that. I also mentioned the shocking response I was given as a reason when I called and complained. I was told "it was the boss's recommendation to not wear them".
Understandably, as this is currently in direct violation of law, I was very upset that the owner would be so arrogant and uncaring of my, and other customers' health.
I called Doreen's to address the mask issue before I made my original post. Because of the response I received, I thought it pertinent to inform others of what I perceived to be a potential health risk. I used strong language and may have expressed myself inappropriately. Given our current (recovering) crisis circumstances, I was harsh.
Today, I received a phone call from the owner, Bill Delis. He was very apologetic. We discussed the details of the situation. He was professional and respectful. He understood my initial position and why, and was in agreement while offering no convenient excuses for the error. He exhibited admirable character and sincerity when handling this unfortunate and miscommunicated situation. It had to be difficult, if not gut-wrenching, for him to do so, and I respect him, his integrity and his humbleness for it.
He seemed genuinely upset the situation had occurred without his knowledge.
From this conversation, I now acknowledge and appreciate that Bill Delis and Doreen's does exert best efforts to comply with laws and health safety regulations, and that Bill actually cares to see they are being followed. Doreen's strives to be a beacon to which others should look up to in the restaurant business. I feel badly for being given misinformation and being misled to think Doreen's management did not care enough to follow the law, which is clearly not the case. This appears to just be an unfortunate mishap and bad timing, and I was assured it won't happen again.
After the conversation with Bill today, I have changed my position and will be ordering from them again in the near future. Doreen's is a family-owned business and it's important to support them, and other local family-owned businesses, during these hard times.
Thus, my opinion of Doreen's as a reputable establishment is amended and my belief in Bill's quality and honest management, for now, is restored. I currently encourage others to become patrons of Doreen's, as their food and service is actually quite good and better than many other local establishments.
A very personal and difficult phone call by the owner, to a dissatisfied customer, in a sincere attempt to right an obvious wrong, is something of a rarity these days, shows moral character worth noting, and carries a lot of merit.
I will update this again once I've had another opportunity to experience what else Doreen's has to offer.
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