Please stop supporting Great Moon Buffet in Maplewood
I'm sharing this to raise awareness after a deeply upsetting experience at this restaurant during what was supposed to be a joyful celebration.
Last night, we were celebrating my niece and nephew's 9th birthday. They chose Great Moon Buffet. Despite past experiences that made us sick, we decided to give the place one more try.
We had a party of 20. My family of 5 arrived first, paid, and were seated. While my husband stepped away to the restroom, the manager came by, checked our receipt and the receipts of two other groups in our party who had arrived and moved them to the head of the table. We believe his name was Lee.
As more guests arrived, others in our party came in, asking if we had a reservation and questioning whether we had space. Meanwhile, the birthday kids ran up to hug us, and that seemed to cause more confusion.
The manager then told everyone arriving to keep their receipts visible, as he was unsure who had paid. We offered to show all of our receipts and he reiterated he would check the cameras. We later learned that he said similar things to others in our group while they were in line to pay, before they even entered the restaurant space.
Then he said, twice:
"If you don't like what I asked, I'll check the cameras."
My husband called him over and calmly asked: Why speak to paying customers like this? Why treat us like we're trying to get away with something?
His response:
"Fine. Leave. I don't need your money."
So we asked for refunds and decided to go elsewhere. As he struggled to issue the return, (maybe due to an outdated card system), my husband expressed his disappointment:
* "This is your fault."
* "You're bad at your job."
* "You treated us like we were scamming you, we weren't. We have money, and this could've been resolved easily."
Then he called the police and said:
"This man threatened me." He continued to reiterate that he was threatened multiple times.
That part didn't even surprise me. It was just another reminder of what it's like to be a Black man in public spaces--how your presence, your voice, and your confidence can be seen as a threat.
Police arrived. No threats had been made. Multiple guests were recording the entire interaction. It was a complete waste of everyone's time--including the Maplewood officers, who were respectful and professional. Once told the situation Officers confirmed all of us were issued refunds then told us to go ahead about our day.
We left feeling disrespected, profiled, and deeply disappointed.
I share this so others know what kind of service and treatment they may be supporting.
Ask yourself: Who are you giving your money to? How do they treat people who look like my husband, my family?
There are plenty of other restaurants in the area that know how to treat their customers--with dignity and respect. In fact, we all took our business to Chili's and had a great time, had even better food and were treated wonderfully.
Thanks for reading. I hope it makes you think twice. read more