By Adam Pagnucco.
Last night, The Grille at Flower Hill, a restaurant in Gaithersburg, posted a complaint on Facebook about the county’s health department enforcing the county’s social distancing and mask rules. Specifically, the post said, “Let me be very clear…my staff will not wear face masks while working here at the Grille. If that bothers you then please dine elsewhere and please try to find something more important to occupy your time such as volunteer at a nursing home or soup kitchen. Whoever you are that filed the complaint, you need to take a good look in the mirror and try to find some real meaning in your life.”
In response to huge pushback, the restaurant doubled down. “You are all missing the very premise of my post. Look at it this way, if you don’t like what is on TV or the radio…change the channel. You all act like i am physically forcing people to come into my restaurant. Every single person that has dined here had a choice and they all chose to eat here knowing full well the staff was not wearing masks.”
Here is just a small sample of the reaction this post generated.
*****
Never, ever giving you or any other firm owned by you my business again.
You’re gonna do a good job at burying your business with this post. It would’ve been better for you to keep quiet about your stance on facemasks rather than post your ignorance for all of Facebook to see and share. Good luck in the coming months.
Publicly, I’d like to thank the health department for doing their jobs. You should be shut down.
Sorry to hear you are making this decision. We used to eat there every week. Not anymore.
Every major media outlet in the area knows about this post. Hope you love bankruptcy!
Will never eat here ever. Ever. EVER. That is if you keep your license.
Besides the total disregard for human lives, this message is totally unprofessional.
Thanks for being candid on how you don’t care about the well being of your staff and patrons.
You just lost my business and I will try to spread the word to any one who will listen regarding your lack of safety for your customers and staff!
Wow. Beyond irresponsible and inconsiderate. What is wrong with you folks?
You need science in your life.
I feel so sad for your employees.
I would not eat at a place that doesn’t care about my health.
I’ll let some investor friends know that a discounted restaurant space will be on the market soon. They’ve already built in disinfecting costs.
I hope we get a Chipotle in that spot instead.
*****
Even if the Facebook post is deleted, the damage has been done on Yelp.
Want to bet where the county’s health department will be today?