Fare Enough — Restaurant in Victoria

Trendy cafe upon entering. My mother had secured a table near the windows, as it was the only table available at the time. She arrived some time before us as we were meeting her on our road trip. Appeared to have a nice convivial atmosphere. We ordered lunch, and the person at the register asked if we could move as our party consisted of four, and our table was more suited to a group of 6: she was expecting a lunch rush, and seemed pretty anxious about it all. No worries, we moved to the table she asked us to sit at, which had become available. She watched us the entire time as we relocated to a table next to the fridges. My mother ordered the duck salad, which was nice but over-dressed. The frittata was fine, my kids had the sushi. We also had some cakes, a smoothie (the large is really more a medium size), a cup of tea (which they forgot about until I reminded the waitress) and a coffee. Happened to notice that no big rush of patrons took the table we were at - it remained empty.

Not really a sustainable cafe - just a yuppie cafe that thinks Binny St is Brunswick St, and is dreaming of a bigger party of rush-hr patrons when we were it. Would be great if the waitress would treat customers with genuine friendliness and some grace and didn't need to govern where patrons wish to sit. Thanks!

P.S. Future diners, please note the aggressive, hostile manner any feedback is recieved by this owner. This is absolutely reflective of her manner overall. I was appalled at the responses to other patrons who dare give honest feedback. Support a business that actually cares.

1 star simply because this owner is so shamefully rude and controlling and cannot 'allow'...

The coffee and food at Fare Enough are actually quite decent, and the space itself has a cozy, local charm. I’ve visited a few times and generally had a pleasant experience with the staff and atmosphere.

That said, I was genuinely taken aback after reading some of the owner's public responses to negative reviews. While it's understandable to feel frustrated when your hard work is criticised, the tone used, particularly the name-calling, assumptions about people’s intelligence, and airing of private information feels unnecessarily hostile and defensive. It gives the impression that any feedback not glowing will be met with public shaming, which is disappointing. Feedback - even imperfect, annoying, or petty feedback - is part of running a customer-facing business. Meeting it with public rants and condescension doesn’t build trust. It just makes people afraid to be honest. If you truly believe in your product, a few "less than perfect" reviews shouldn’t shake you this much.

I want to support small businesses, especially ones that clearly work hard, but a bit more grace and professionalism when responding to criticism (even the frustrating kind) would go a long way in making customers feel safe and respected.

And yes - I’m giving 5 stars. Not because everything is perfect, but because I’ve seen what happens when someone gives less. Hopefully, this gives you pause - not to defend or deflect - but to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask whether your response to feedback is helping or hurting what you've built.

Something to...

The butter chicken curry gave me the worst food poisoning. Threw up the whole of last night. Used to love this place but now really disappointed.

Edit: owner of cafe still insists that there was gastro at the workplace I was working at when the childcare itself clearly stated there was none on Facebook. After being called out for doxxing as well as its unhinged and aggressive responses to negative reviews, the owner tries to now use passive aggressive language to continue to attack the reviewer for an honest review. Moreover, it is interesting how the owner of this cafe knows very well the career trajectory of the reviewer which indicates stalking.

Either way, I do plan to wrap up this absurdity. Just know, fellow customers, to expect a rabid and unhinged owner come after you after the slightest negative review.

Message to owner: learn to grow a pair and cop some constructive criticism. And don't try to use cyberbullying and workplace bullying to silence negative reviewers. Goodbye, and hope you can be less unhinged...