'Mortifying': Toronto woman says restaurant shamed her for ordering too much food
A Toronto woman says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant north of the city in a scathing review posted to social media that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
In a TikTok video posted this week about the April 28 incident, Cassandra Mauro said she and a friend were famished after working out at the gym and went to get some sushi late last month.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“No. Too much food. That’s it,” Mauro recalls the server telling the pair as they placed their order.
“Is it? Is it too much food?’ We didn’t order that much. We ordered three apps and two rolls and also we’re starving,” she said.
Mauro said after their order was placed, the server scoffed at them.
Then, according to Mauro, the manager of the a la carte King City restaurant came to their table and said, “Hungry?”
“She goes, ‘Yeah. You ordered too much food. It’s not going to fit on this table. Get up. Move to this table.’”Cassandra Mauro says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant in King City in a review posted to social media that’s gone viral. (TikTok/cassmauro)
The pair decided to stay and try and enjoy their meal, but said they could see the chef from their table laughing at them.
“We finished all of [the food]. We paid and we tipped. Now, I’m looking back on this whole interaction and I’m like, ‘That was mortifying,’” Mauro said.
Paper Crane Sushi, which Mauro identified as the business, did not respond to CTV News Toronto’s request for comment.
RESTAURANT APOLOGIZES
In response to the incident, the business owner issued a lengthy apology to Mauro and her friend, and said something during the interaction may have been lost in translation.
“We sincerely apologize for any comments that may have caused a negative experience … Many of our staff speak English as a second language, but we hope you know it was never the intention of staff to make you (or anyone) feel judged at our restaurant,” Paper Crane Sushi wrote in a post to Instagram.
The post went on to say the business owners have discussed the incident with their staff members and have “looked closely” at how they speak to customers.
“We’re also taking time to address language barriers and make sure our words have the appropriate meaning.”
Paper Crane Sushi, which the business said is Korean-owned, said the incident has triggered threats and racially-motivated harassment, and as such the owners have turned comments off on their social media pages.
Sushi file photo. (Source: Pexels)
Negative Google reviews of the establishment referencing the incident have also surfaced -- which Mauro said she does not condone -- but appear to have since been removed as they likely go against the platform’s deceptive content policies.
For her part, Mauro said in a follow up video it was not her intention to generate such a negative response to the business, and that she just wanted to share her experience, albeit to an admittedly much larger audience than she intended.
“I appreciate that they are taking the steps to re-educate their staff,” she told CTV News Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
China's latest EV is a 'connected' car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars.