Woman experiences ‘awful’ service at Izzy’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. But it gets worse when she looks at other tables: ‘This woman hated us’
An Asian woman goes to Izzy’s Steakhouse in San Francisco and immediately notices her server’s rude behavior. She warns other people of color to avoid the restaurant after she sees how the server treats white guests.
In a video with over 393,000 views, TikToker Hannah Reid (@hannahhrreid) notes that she doesn’t usually post negative reviews about businesses. However, she felt compelled to share her experience so others don’t have to go through the same.
“If you are a person of color, do not eat at Izzy’s Steakhouse,” she says. “Our server was so unbelievably rude. I’ve never experienced service that awful.”
How did the Izzy’s Steakhouse server treat them?
Reid says the steakhouse server took away their utensils while they were eating and continued to walk away from them while they were talking.
“She quite literally threw things down on our table,” she continues.
As she looks around at the other tables in the server’s section, she sees the worker have a much different attitude with white guests.
“She was being so nice and friendly and laughing and making conversation,” Reid notes. “Lo and behold, we’re the only Asian people sitting in her section.”
Reid says that she previously worked in the food service industry and understand that some days “suck.”
“But this woman hated us,” she says. Reid alerted other workers about the server’s behavior and told them, “She might be racist.” Their response was shocking.
“They responded, ‘Maybe she is,'” Reid continues. “They proceeded to offer us a free appetizer for the next time we dine in. We aren’t dining in ever again.”
Did Izzy’s reach out to the TikToker?
In an updated caption, Reid notes that Izzy’s Steakhouse reached out to her after her video went viral.
“Update: Izzy’s has reached out to me and is taking the situation under review. I appreciate the support from all of you! I do not condone any form of harassment or bullying towards myself or the business,” she writes. “I made this video to share our experience with that server and FOH staff member as POC women.”
Since Reid’s video, many other Yelp users have left reviews bashing the restaurant for alleged racism. At the time of publication, Yelp disabled new reviews on the Izzy’s Steakhouse page.
A message from Yelp reads, “While activity or content supporting racism, discrimination, or bigotry have no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject them in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience.”
Under one existing review calling out the alleged racist behavior, Izzy’s responds, “We are actively looking into the experience that has been shared online and have reached out directly to the guest involved. We are committed to understanding what happened and taking the appropriate steps.”
How did viewers react to the situation?
In the comments of Reid’s video, other Izzy’s guests share similar situations at the restaurant.
“Omg I just went with friends & we had the RUDEST server!!!! I complained to the manager because we were so so so shook. He literally was walking away in the middle of our questions it was insane!” one writes.
Another notes, “I lived in San Francisco for 13 years (mostly in the Marina) and went here only once and that was enough.”
Others sympathize with Reid, praising her for speaking out about her experience on social media.
“Ummmm NEVER going. That’s horrible and I am so sorry that happened to you. Ty for warning us all!!!” a commenter says.
“As another Asian female, and a restaurant owner in SF, ‘maybe she is’ is beyond. If I’m told that by a dining guest I would be mortified. It’s really sad and disappointing to hear, so sorry you had to experience this,” a second comments.
@hannahhrreid Update: Izzy’s has reached out to me and is taking the situation under review. I appreciate the support from all of you! I do not condone any form of harassment or bullying towards myself or the business. I made this video to share our experience with that server and FOH staff member as POC women. I’m putting this behind me now, going forward I hope everyone learns from this situation. Thanks.
♬ original sound – Hannah Reid
The Mary Sue reached out to Reid via email and TikTok direct message and to Izzy’s Steakhouse via media form for further comment.
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