Nick’s Riverside Grill vs. ‘Emma C’ Yelp Battle: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

A Washington D.C. restaurant hit back at a customer who left a negative review on Yelp by claiming that she pooped her pants while sitting at the bar and then sat in it for the entire night.

After Yelp reviewer “Emma C.” left a one-star review on the Yelp page for Nick’s Riverside Grill, the restaurant’s manager posted the poop post as a reply.

Both posts have now been deleted, but screenshots spread around the Internet. The posts were first reported on by Dave Statter, who runs the fire and EMS blog Statter 911. He vouched for the story, saying on Twitter he was told about it by employees of the restaurant that he knows.

Here’s what you need to know:

---

1. ‘Emma C.’ Said In Her Initial Review She Received the ‘Worst Service’ & Will Never Go Again

The negative review by “Emma C.” was posted on May 26. You can see a screenshot of it above.

Emma, whose full name is not known, wrote that she will “never go again” and said she received the “worst service.”

She was angry because she went there for happy hour and says she gave the bartender her credit card. She claims she was charged for “two drinks and more,” but only ordered one drink.

Emma also said she asked the bartender to change the bill, but he said he couldn’t do it. She also claims the bartender told her to call the manager later, since he was out

“I called and the just said manager is really busy and will call me back,” but she said he never did. She said they posted the charge on her account without her signature.

“If u swipe my care wrongly for someone else, I’m not the one paying for it,” Emma wrote.

On her Yelp profile page, Emma calls herself the “Food Gossip Girl” and says she is from Maryland.

---

2. Manager ‘Liz S’ Fired Back, Telling Emma She ‘Lost Control of Your Bowels in the Middle of the Restaurant’

On May 27, a manager from Nick’s Riverside Grill replied to Emma C’s review. You can see the full post above.

The manager, identified as Liz S., says the manager did call Emma back and she never returned the call, “probably because you didn’t want to discuss the events that occurred at our establishment that evening.”

The manager said Emma did order two drinks.

“Out of compassion and being decent human beings we did not charge you a waste removal fee. We were trying not to cause anymore embarrassment or humiliation to you,” Liz wrote. “But after receiving your phone call ands seeing this review on Yelp, we feel we are justified in defending ourselves. The fact of the matter is you lost control of your bowels in the middle of the restaurant, and you proceeded to sit in for the remainder of the evening, making more of a mess.”

The manager said they had to reroute other patrons and said Emma threw away her underwear in their trash can.

“Our poor manager working that night was left to clean up your feces,” the manager wrote. “We would be happy to refund your entire bill with the understanding you will never return to any of our establishments until you are potty trained.”

Owner Greg Casten told the Washington City Paper’s “Young and Hungry” blog he gave permission to the manager to write the reply.

“As a restaurateur, I wanted to (1) respond to an untruthful review and (2) be sure the patron knew what discomfort they had brought to some very hard working people,” Casten said. “Considering I knew the details — I thought the letter was forceful, truthful, and I thus said OK.”

---

3. In an Angry Reply, Emma Claimed She Was Being Defamed & Said She Wasn’t the Customer Sitting in Her Our Own Poop

After manager Liz S. left her reply to Emma, she replied, claiming it was a case of mistaken identity.

In her reply post, which you can see above, Emma wrote that she had been “slandered.” She said the manager “accused me of being drunk and misbehaved that night out of no blue.”

Emma wrote, “it is crime of defamation.”

She also said she didn’t receive a phone call or voice mail from the restaurant.

“I did know something happened that night, but I have no idea who that was and didn’t witness the whole thing. Now he said it was me, how ridiculous u are. All my friends who were present and (your) CCTV can testify that I just ordered one drink and that was not me.”

She also implied that she could file a lawsuit against the restaurant and asked the manager to check its surveillance video and apologize.

Casten told the Washington City Paper it was Emma who was involved in the incident:

While an unfortunate incident in general, the woman and her friends left a real mess, included numerous towels we had provided discarded in the restaurant, dirty clothing thrown away in the bathrooms, a ugly, smelly mess just outside our front door and some very distraught employees.

The incident involved the Fire Fighters- EMT’s (with whom she refused to leave the scene in an ambulance, signing a form saying she would not depart with them), we have the woman on film, we have two bartenders who recognize her (and her picture on the yelp review) and identified the exact number of drinks she consumed – two beers, she did not appear intoxicated to the bartenders although the manager saw her walking in a very awkward manner just prior to the incident.

He said he didn’t want the review to “go viral,” but said he “wanted to (1) respond to an untruthful review and (2) be sure the patron knew what discomfort they had brought to some very hard working people and considering I knew the details – I thought the letter was forceful, truthful, and I thus said OK.”

---

4. The Restaurant, Which Opened in 1992, Has Received Mixed Reviews on Yelp in the Past

Nick’s Riverside Grill, located on the Georgetown waterfront, opened in 1992, according to its website.

“Nick’s is a family restaurant in the truest sense of the word,” the website says. “Established in 1992, Nicholas, his cousin, father and brother began operating this renovated establishment. One of them is there at all times.”

The restaurant is owned by Nick Cibel, his father, Tony Cibel, his brother, Dean Cibel, and his nephew, Greg Casten.

“Nick’s is a fun casual restaurant where all are welcome. This comes from Nicholas, hence the name on the door! Nick was born and raised in the Washington area,” the restaurant’s website says. “He has been working in the business since he was 12 years old. His attention to detail, gregarious personality and fun loving spirit make people want to be around him!”

Nick’s has a 2.5-star rating on Yelp, out of 218 reviews.

The restaurant has more positive reviews on Facebook, where it averages a four-star rating with 303 reviews, and on Open Table, where it also has a four-star average.

---

5. A Restaurant Manager In Indianapolis Received Praise for Shaming a Woman Who Complained a Woman’s Heart Attack Interrupting Her Dinner

Nick’s Riverside Grill is the latest restaurant to fire back at a negative reviewer. The owner of Kilroy’s Downtown Indy received praise after he shamed a woman who left a nasty review on Facebook, complaining that her New Year’s Eve dinner had been interrupted by a woman’s heart attack:

“So I understand how inconvenient this was to your night. But honestly, I’m glad to hear you won’t be coming back to Kilroy’s because we wouldn’t want anyone as cold hearted and nasty as you returning,” Chris Burton replied. “I appreciate anyone who chooses to spend their money at Kilroy’s until they act like you. You can take your money anywhere else after that, and I won’t lose a second of sleep over it. Happy New Year!”

The post went viral and led to the woman who left the review, Holly Jones, being fired from her job at a local salon.

Read more about Holly Jones and Kilroy’s at the link below: