You go on with your bad self! So what if the Powers That Be get their panties in a bunch? No one has the right to accuse you of being dis-honest!

For the love. It seems that anytime someone has a different opinion than you're the one at fault.

Clearly you had a good experience and they guy didn't. Does he really think that everyone will agree with him on everything? I don't get it.

Or, maybe, he meant it as a joke and the sarcasm didn't translate. Still, it's kind of lame.

As Kimmer pointed out, it isn't to the Sun's benefit to have readers thinking you are on the take.

Of course, judging by the changes at the Sun the last few years, they think us readers are dumb, but management always gets to do stuff the front line folks aren't permitted to do.

If that person wished to be taken seriously, they should have signed their name and written their complaint in sonnet format. Sheesh.

Yes, this person is dumb. 4 vists and each time a bad experience? Yes, dumb.

There was a saying during the 80s, Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money.

Frankly, wouldn't accusing the restaurant critic of taking bribes because you disagree with her review be a sign that you need to pull your head out of the dark place?

Wouldn't four visits to a restaurant where you always have a bad experience be a sign of brain damage?

The higher ups may not like it, but us lower downs do. And isn't that what the higher ups want out of your blog?

Insanity (or stupidity) is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Thanks for the laugh. After four bad experiences, he/she still plans on going back because the bartender is great?

Your J'accuser may have written the best review of a restaurant ever. Let me rephrase his dis epistle:

Alizee is supernatural in its appeal. You will return again and again even if you hate it. Like a zombie loves brains, you will be drawn here against your will. Four stars.

This probably won't win me any friends in the Sandbox, but your response was not very grown up, and really defensive. Calling someone dumb almost immediately doesn't seem smart. Why not just address his concern politely and leave it at that?

I know, it was really childish of me. :-) EL

Nik, because she isn't a robot? Because she has to deal with way too many e-mails trashing her?

Where is it written that you have to be polite to people who are rude to you?

Sounds to me as if Anon may be a masochist in need of professional help. I doubt that he ever discussed your reviews at a "dinner party the other night." Instead, he was trying to invent a rationale for writing a poison pen letter before he set off for Alizee and another meal he knew he would hate.

Like I said, I'm not winning any friends.

I just didn't find the email overly rude. Foolish, perhaps. Which is all the more reason why it should have been treated with the kind of patience one would extend a 4 year old.

I ate there once, a couple of months ago, and the food and service was terrible. My thought was: "there must have been some turnover since EL reviewed this place, or maybe everyone who normally works here is out sick!" It never occurred to me that you were on the take. I just haven't gone back!

PS:

All the spam and shills are really her.

funny cap:
promised bewares

As I have posted previously, I took a friend for lunch and we were disappointed in the food, but the service was fine. My husband went with a group another evening, and the service was inept. Clearly, the place is uneven--but I never ever thought that EL's review was influenced by a bribe. She just hit the place on a good night (and my memory is that she was less than thrilled with the service, but the food was inspired).
I would like to see this place succeed, so I will probably give it another chance, but not until bloggers here start raving about it (without sounding shilly).

i might be in the minority, but I would like to see a response to why you like the place so much. No need to respond to whether you are on the take....

I think my review said it all. The night we ate there we had excellent food and not such great service. I'm not sure why this particular review seemed so suspicious, given the red flags I raised in it. But maybe service is more important to me than to him. I know how quickly things change in the restaurant business these days, so it doesn't surprise me that his experiences were different than mine. That's why I ask the Web site not to keep my reviews posted for too long. EL

ab -- You can check out EL's review under Monday Morning Quaterbacking. A link is under Categories.

EL may not take bribes, but the Director of Development at Free Market Fridays is looking for sponsors.

I can see it now, Free Market Fridays brought to you by Archer Daniel Midland, The Chubb Group, Cuisinart and Red Lobster.

A sponsorship sounds much better than a bribe.

Nik -- you have to understand that even implying that a reviewer can be bought, financially or out of friendship, is the supreme insult. It's like saying that a football referee is on the take, an accusation of professional misconduct. Because EL enjoyed a restaurant one night and 'My Opinion' disliked it several times is no excuse for an offensive E-mail which she handled with more good grace than it deserved.

A friend of mine recently raved about Alizee. I'd go there on his recommendation, or EL's. If I hated it, I'd suspect my opinion before EL's or my friend's.
Of course that in no way justifies a childish response.
"It felt sooooo good," however, might.

Hey guys lets lay off Nik. It takes courage to post a minority opinion on a relatively cliquish blog against the blog's proprietor.

He wasn't defending the opinion and actions of the anonymous emailer, merely questioning EL's response to it.

Yes, EL has a right to be upset by a baseless accusation against her that challenges her integrity. At the same time, knowing that the accusation is baseless, she could've responded differently. Perhaps simply stating that she gave her honest opinion about her experience and referred myOpinion to her review, rather than call him a wimp for not using his name and dumb for returning.

I'd like to point out that EL asked "How dumb is that?". She did not say "How dumb are you?" So, she didn't really say anyone was dumb.

Yes, you could argue that by calling someone's actions dumb, you're also calling that person dumb, but I disagree. For instance, I don't think I'm dumb, but I know I've done dumb things.

Purely semantic, maybe, but there is a big difference.

And also, implying that EL is taking bribes to do her job dishonestly is beyond just foolish or rude.

Is it possible that M.O. was bribed to say s/he disliked her/his Alizee experience, perhaps by a close relative/competitor?

Just asking, M.O., don't diss my review of your review of the reviewer whose review you perhaps did not read carefully.

And doesn't the word re-view suggest looking at it again?

Cap: foresee abused {who needs fortune cookies?}

Maybe EL pays restaurants to give them bad reviews, too.

Maybe restaurants pay EL for bad reviews in hopes of avoiding the 3.5 stars of doom.