this is one of those new trendy, hippy-dip restaurants that has randomly popped up in detroit, but has no clue where they actually are and what the culture entails.
i came in here last week to pick up a multi-item order, approached the counter with smiles and all to let them know i was picking up. the order wasn't ready, which wasn't a problem at all so i went to go turn my car off and came back in and waited about 15 minutes before i had said order in my hand.
in those 15 minutes, i witnessed what i presume to be a regular (a white-older man with a ponytail, wearing sunglasses) come in and the staff making a pretty lengthy conversation with him; shortly after, the supposed regular leaves with an order in hand. post conversation, all the staff weirdly disappear and come back after a few beats. i see one person, who i initially checked in with alongside friend with the piercings and cute, shot hair, eating at pizza at his heart's content away near the over, so at this point my patience is beginning to wean. after having a ten minute timer i had previously set go off, i approach the counter and ask the supposed manager if the order is ready. he goes to check and sure enough the order is ready, so finally delivers it to me. during the handoff, i mention to him that i had already checked in and asked for the order so i was shocked to have had waited an extended period of time, even though the order clearly had been ready during the time i was waiting. no decent apology, no fond farewell, no invitation to come back.
now, i'm a brown skinned, Black & Brown, visibly queer, 5'5', incredibly stylish individual, and i have a warming personality to add to the charm; nothing about me is threatening nor alarming, so i'm not sure what about my presence comes off as unusual or warrants me to receive strange and inhospitable interactions. i'm a native who's been gone in california for almost a decade, and astonished isn't even powerful enough to describe how i feel about the gentrification of detroit. if you businesses want to come to detroit, but cannot learn how to be around folks who do not belong to your culture, whether that be on an ethnic, religious, etc level, please just stay out of the city. as guests, you have a duty to show empathy and humanity and understanding to those who do not look like you and do not act like you. the word "hospitality" gets thrown around way too often, and as someone who's career has been service-oriented regardless of the environment for 15 years, i'm appalled at the lack of "hospitality" i receive in so many of these white-operated businesses in detroit. hospitality is not white/western-euro oriented, and i need many of y'all who are coming from oakland, macomb, or whatever non wayne-county surburb to CEMENT that.
i should not be coming back to my city feeling like an alien, and unfortunately pie sci pizza has added to that experience. as great as their food is, i can get great food anywhere, but i can't get humanity as easily. let's improve, please.
PS, the business manager swiftly dropped in to give a baseless, emotional defense. my experience is my experience and unfortunately you don't get to try to manipulate that, especially as you were not present while I was there and unsurprisingly you not dictate the morals and culture of your team. Truthfully, this restaurant has just popped up since you guys weren't even a thing before I left (ten years isn't long lol), and let me ask how many folks from the team are from DETROIT (and not metro), i'd be waiting before i got a "me!" and it's a great thing. I never said that my experience was based on any of my identities, so I'm not sure where the need of defense for that came from...
it's no wonder your business manager and not business owner read more