Owner of shuttered Heirloom restaurant speaks out after deluge of online criticism
Posted April 8, 2024 6:35 am.
Last Updated April 8, 2024 6:41 am.
The owner of a now-closed vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood is speaking out after a wave of online backlash against him.
Gus Greer opened Heirloom in 2012, offering primarily vegetarian and vegan dishes. But Greer says after a tough go during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and a slump in demand, the restaurant wasn’t making enough money to stay open.
“We decided to add meat to the menu. We had our plant-based options with meat add-ons. And that — in hindsight — was not a very popular choice with some people,” he told CityNews.
Greer maintains that the change went over positively with customers in person, but on social media, the reception was anything but positive. Greer then began responding to negative reviews by calling out customers with names like “soy boy”, and inviting one reviewer to “go hump your cat”.
“I’m sad that this is no longer a vegetarian restaurant but what’s worse is how the owners are reacting to the feedback from the community. Really horrific stuff they are replying to reviewers with. Will not go back and support their business and behaviour,” one reviewer named Ken wrote online.
Greer then responded, saying, “Yeah. It’s just awful that we call out douches for being douches. We love our customers. We protect the integrity of our pack! Go Wolf Pack!”
Another poster named Deborah wrote a detailed review, saying she would never dine at Heirloom again because of the way Greer was responding to the negative reviews.
“I can guarantee for myself and many others. It has nothing to do with the fact that you went away from plant-based, but your behaviour is atrocious. That’s right you owe me nothing, not that I wanted anything from you, but to make you aware in the very beginning of how you talk to people others see,” Deborah posted online.
Greer wrote back.
“Deborah, Deborah, Deborah, anyone that writes into our business social media accounts and complains that we don’t follow their dietary philosophies can beat it. The Vegans have been mean-spirited and awful. Not all of them of course but a surprising amount. We are so excited to divorce ourselves from the dreadful politics of veganism.”
Heirloom closed on April 1 with a message saying “Thanks a lot, Deborah. You Lil’ Rascal!”
That set off a firestorm in online forums like Reddit, with many users condemning Greer’s language. But Greer tells CityNews he doesn’t regret it.
“We’ve said a lot of things in response to reviews — all of it tongue in cheek, all of it hyperbole,” he said. “I have so many regrets in life. Honestly, a lot of this doesn’t even come close to the top 10.”
Greer says he’s proud of what Heirloom’s run as a restaurant, despite the way things ended.
“We just want to serve happy people food and have great experiences. We’re not a church. We’re not a political organization. We’re not a cause. We’re just a restaurant. We’re selling burgers — we’re not flying a space shuttle.”
He adds that the team behind Heirloom will be back in the future with another restaurant.
