(Seguin) – A local restaurant found itself in the middle of a social media frenzy Friday after a customer posted that they had denied a local man from dining inside.
Residents didn’t take long to share their disappointment with the Great Wall restaurant following the post by Liza Tijerina Heard.
Heard posted ‘wow, I am at a loss for words. I offered to buy this man a meal at Great Wall here in Seguin and the guy in the front said that he would have to take it to go – that he couldn’t sit there and eat. It is freezing outside! I asked why he can’t eat it here and the guy up front said he has to take it to go! I let him know that – that was an awful response! I would make a post and let everyone know how they treat a paying customer.”
Heard shared more on how things unfolded that day with the Seguin Daily News and remains upset that the restaurant turned away this gentleman who she ran into outside after picking up a to-go order.
“He asked me for a dollar, and I told him I didn’t have any cash on me but was he hungry? He said ‘yes ma’am’ and so I told him go into that restaurant, the Great Wall and I would buy him some lunch and he said okay. So, he went inside, and I ran into Auto Zone. They didn’t have what I needed so I ran right back, and the man was still standing there. Nobody was there in the front to help him yet and then the manager came to the front, and I asked the man what kind of meat did he want? I couldn’t remember what he wanted but he wanted something specific like spaghetti or something else and I said, ‘they don’t have that here.’ I said what kind of meat do you like, and he said chicken and I said ‘how about chicken broccoli?’ He said okay, and then I said, ‘can we get him a chicken broccoli and I’m going to pay for it so that can eat it here’ and the (man) said ‘no. He cannot eat it here’ and that he had to take it to go. So, I said ‘why?’ He said, ‘he can’t. He can’t eat it here. He has to take it to go.’ I said he is a paying customer, and he can eat it in here and he said ‘no, that he cannot.’ So, the man stood there, and I told the (man) that I was going to blast him on Facebook and that it was disgusting and that it was unacceptable,” said Heard.
Since then, the manager, Marco Yang, has publicly apologized for his handling of the situation and cites a language barrier as the main cause for the misunderstanding.
“Sometimes, it’s the language problem. So, we allow him to come in to eat. We allow so he can come to my restaurant to eat. So sometimes (it’s) the language problem. Like I say, he can’t or he can not and today is Friday. It is busy earlier in the morning and the lady is asking me like can he sit in here to eat and he pay for. I say he can and she probably heard he can not and I go straight into the kitchen and after I came out, she left. So, I don’t know what’s going on and she just post it,” said Yang.
The manager went on to explain how the gentleman has eaten inside the restaurant before. He says folks typically invite him to join them at their table when he approaches them outside for money. Yang also stated that it has been at least two weeks since he had dined inside. He says the man also often comes inside to ask for plastic utensils. When asked how often he stands outside, Yang says it’s ‘every day.’
On top of sharing their disappointment, many comments went a step further by mentioning how employees, including Yang, who often works the front counter, were rude at the restaurant.
They say this is why it doesn’t surprise them about what Heard posted.
In response, Yang tells KWED that he apologizes for the rude service and says while some of it is also tied to being a language barrier, he can see how it comes off as rudeness to customers. However, he does accept some of this blame and shares how the restaurant would be working on improving its customer service.
“I need to apologize for everybody and even if this is true or not true, I have to apologize,” said Yang.
A few hours later that day, Great Wall furthered its attempt to publicly apologize by posting a video of the man who was shown dining inside the restaurant.
In the posted video, the man states…
“Great Wall people invite me to come here and eat free food. I have eaten here before.”
Despite Great Wall’s statements, Heard says she is confident in what was said that day and even asked Yang several times just so that she was clear on what he was saying. (I) “was shocked. He kept telling me no. No, he had to take it to go.”
Heard, whose post also accompanied a photo of the man, says she is troubled by how anyone can be turned away.
“Kindness is free. In the world that we live in, there’s enough hate. There’s just enough ugliness in the world. You don’t have to add to it. It’s cold outside and we just all need to come together as a community. We can help each other and it’s just kindness. Kindness goes a long way and that man – if you would have (seen) how he looked, I felt like crying. If you would have (seen) how he looked, it wasn’t right. It really wasn’t,” said Heard.
While it was assumed by some – via the comments — that the man was homeless, KWED has learned that the Seguin man is not homeless but is known to frequent the spot outside Goodwill where he does regularly ask for money.
Meanwhile, the social media post did not only cause an uproar by those who vowed never to eat at the restaurant again. Some came to the restaurant’s defense, believing that it did understand that it made a mistake and wanted to do better, while others agreed with Yang and felt that the language barrier was at fault.
Yet, in the end, Heard does not regret her post and says she would do it all over again if she had to. She says if anything, folks were reminded about humanity and the importance of taking care of one another.