As a former restaurant owner, I probably look at restaurants a little differently than most people. I know what happens behind those kitchen doors. I know the financial sacrifice, the sleepless nights, the stress, the employees depending on you, the money constantly going back into the business, and the countless hours spent trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Restaurants aren't born perfect. It takes time. You learn your customers. You learn how much to prep. You figure out what holds up during a rush and what doesn't. You adjust recipes, portions, staffing, pricing and procedures. Some things work, some things fail, and you try again. That's restaurant ownership.
That's also why Yelp sometimes pisses me off.
Yelp gives people an incredible amount of power over somebody else's livelihood, and I don't think everyone realizes how much damage a careless review can actually do. I've been on the receiving end of it. I've watched people write things about our restaurant that simply weren't true. I've seen someone call food "disgusting" after watching them finish practically everything on their plate. I've seen complaints about orders being wrong when we had systems specifically designed to verify every order.
So nowadays, when I read Yelp, I actually read the negative reviews first. Some are completely legitimate. If a restaurant is dirty, food is spoiled, someone treats customers disrespectfully, or there's a consistent problem, people should absolutely know about it. But there's a difference between warning people about a legitimate problem and tearing apart a small business because something wasn't personally to your taste.
I even saw criticism that Soupreme was trying to copy another restaurant.
Okay...and?
Restaurants influence restaurants. McDonald's didn't invent hamburgers. Every taco shop didn't independently invent the taco. Every pho restaurant doesn't need to reinvent pho. What matters to me is what THIS restaurant puts in front of me.
And what Soupreme put in front of us was damn good.
We tried several things, including the pho, short rib pho and wings. Look at the pictures. They are not playing around with the meat here. The short rib is huge, the broth had plenty of flavor, and the wings came out crispy and actually held onto their flavor instead of just being covered in sauce. Portions were generous, and nobody at our table left hungry.
Their happy hour is also worth mentioning. With the price of eating out nowadays, seeing actual happy-hour deals on wings, drinks and appetizers makes this an easy place to come back to without spending a ridiculous amount of money.
But what ultimately made me want to write this wasn't just the food.
I looked around and saw a restaurant owner trying to make his business work. I know that feeling. I know what Andrew has financially and emotionally invested in this place. I know there are nights when the restaurant is closed but the work isn't over. I know there are employees depending on the business succeeding. I know how much trial and error happens before customers ever see the finished product.
We eventually had to close our restaurant, and looking back, I wish more people understood those things when we were still fighting to keep our doors open.
So when I find a small business doing something good, I'm going to say something about it.
That doesn't mean giving every small business five stars. It doesn't mean pretending mistakes don't happen. And it definitely doesn't mean people shouldn't leave legitimate criticism.
It just means remembering that your words carry weight.
If something simply isn't your taste, maybe consider the difference between saying "this wasn't for me" and writing something that could convince 20 other people never to walk through the door.
As for Soupreme, we'll be walking through that door again.
Andrew, keep going. Some of us know exactly how hard you're working. read more