Drifters Cafe — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

My fiance and I tried this place for the first time this morning and most of our experience was fine until the end. At first, the service was super friendly, helpful, and fast. The ambiance is great.

We ordered a chicken bacon wrap, a southwest bowl, 2 smoothies, a chocolate muffin, and a latte. The chicken bacon wrap was ok. My fiance liked the southwest bowl but he said it was smaller than he would have liked but he did leave off the chicken. Neither one of us liked the smoothies because they both tasted very artificial and we couldn't bring ourselves to finish them. The muffin also tasted artificial and I didn't care for it although it wasn't terrible. The latte was good.

I wrote all this in a review as we were finishing eating. I said that I probably wouldn't be back because the food was just okay and there were better options elsewhere in town. We were just about to stand up to leave, about 30 seconds after posting the review, and the manager suddenly rushed up to our table and was very upset with us.

First she was mad because we wrote the review while we were still eating there, instead of doing it later, which I thought was odd. It's much easier to remember what you want to say in the moment.

She was also very upset at me for not coming up to her and telling her what was wrong, so that they could make it better, instead of "writing a really rude review." This confused me, as I don't know what I could have asked for them to make better. You can't really fix an artificial tasting smoothie unless you change it to completely different ingredients. It's not like they could have baked a new muffin. The wrap was fine. Also, the bowl and the latte were good, we had no issues with those.

Also, I thought Drifter's Cafe was a chain restaurant, because when you go to google and search for the name, there are multiple locations here in Virginia. But she said it wasn't a chain, it was just her and her husband. I had assumed that the food tasted artificial because it was a chain, and there was nothing that they could do about it, that's also why I had no reason to say anything.

I felt really bad for clearly having made her so upset, but I was also very confused by how upset she was. It wasn't a negative review, nor was it rude, as she kept repeating over and over at me. It was an HONEST review. I even said that a number of things were good, but that we probably wouldn't come back because the food was just okay. But she was so upset. I apologized many times for upsetting her.

She insisted on refunding us, even though I told her repeatedly that she didn't need to do that. We paid for food, we ate food, there was nothing seriously wrong, we just didn't love most of it. It's just an opinion. We didn't need a refund. Although I can appreciate that she was trying to make it right.

We were shaken by the whole encounter, and as I left the restaurant, I deleted the review. I wish I hadn't, now. Because after reflecting, I don't see how we did anything wrong, and that's why I'm now writing this. I can understand how not getting a rave review might be upsetting, but that's just business. Not everyone is going to like the food, even at a 5 star restaurant. It's not the end of the world if someone has an opinion that the food is just "okay." And it should also be okay to say so.

Honest reviews are important. If I owned a restaurant, I would be thankful to anyone who took the time to write a review online -- even if I didn't like what they said. How else are you supposed to learn what people like and don't like, and where you can improve? Maybe it's just a difference in perspective, but I believe that if you are going to run a business you need a thick skin, and know that not everyone is going to like what you offer. That's okay.

If this is how she reacts to honesty, I'd hate to see what happens when someone actually writes a genuinely negative review. The whole encounter was just really upsetting. We weren't planning on going back anyway, but after getting yelled at, there is zero chance we will ever...

My fiancée, Tien Frogget, wanted to respond to your reply, but was unable to because google does not allow for replies to replies. The following is what she wanted to communicate, for the sake of other customers (Please read her review and the Cafe's response first).

I am personally in agreement with her about our experience. "This was not a rant. This was an honest recounting of my experience at your restaurant.

You are correct in that I misstated that she was a manager. I meant to type owner. That's my bad.

Regardless of what ingredients were used in the smoothies, they both tasted extremely artificial to both of us. Maybe it is something in the juice used. I don't know. But if they are pure fruit, as you say, then there definitely was nothing that could be done to make them taste better.

Yes, I was confused about it being a chain, because when I googled it, multiple locations showed up on the map. (You can see in the screenshot.) It seems they are all unrelated to your business, but you can see how a person could be confused by that. I also was not stating in my review that it was a chain. I was stating that I thought it was a chain and therefore it didn't occur to me to say anything to the restaurant because if it was a chain, there would be no control over the menu or what goes in the food.

It also didn't occur to me to complain to you about the food because there was nothing inherently wrong with it. It wasn't burnt or cold or cooked improperly. It just didn't taste that great to me. It was simply an opinion.

Personally, I don't believe that it's "hiding behind a screen" to post an honest review of an experience for other potential customers to see and read. We both thought that the smoothies and the muffin tasted artificial. It's just an opinion. If other customers are as sensitive to artificial flavors as we are, they will appreciate knowing that. That was my intent in writing the review-- helping other customers.

I didn't speak directly to you about it because I didn't think there was anything you could do about it. If there was something actually wrong with the food, I would have. It was just an opinion.

I am not "painting a false picture." I am simply stating my experience in your restaurant as honestly as I can.

I have, in no way, intentionally attacked you or your restaurant. I never intended to say anything rude to you or your wife. I even apologized to her for upsetting her, even though I believed (and still believe) I had done nothing wrong. To my knowledge, I have simply shared my experience to the best of my ability.

In response, I was yelled at and my character was attacked. I think it is important that others know if a restaurant treats criticism with hyper-reactivity.

This entire experience has been very upsetting to us. Regardless of what you may think of me, yelling at a customer in your own restaurant and attacking their character online is...

Went here to try something new since my regular coffee shop is closed on Sundays. The prices were reasonable, the atmosphere was great, and so was the customer service. The coffee however was a bit of a disappointment. For a coffee shop I don’t think they quite have it perfected yet. I ordered a large iced vanilla latte with whole milk. While the barista was making the coffee I realized they were using powder to add the flavoring. I should have asked here then to just not add the vanilla. I received my order left then took a drink once I got to my car. I’m sure she did her best with the provided ingredients to make the beverage. But adding powder to flavor a coffee (especially iced) is a no go for me. It created sugar clumps throughout the beverage that made it very unpleasant. I ended up throwing it out. I would recommend moving to syrups to flavor your coffees. Maybe this is just my opinion but I definitely don’t wanna drink coffee full of sugar/...