TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee restaurant is apologizing to customers and the community in light of some posts it made on its Facebook page.
"That a business page would do this to one of their customers is outrageous," said Crystal DeGreef, a nursing student.
Crystal DeGreef is the face of a social media firestorm.
"Didn't feel good to be fat-shamed over responding to another person's comment," said DeGreef.
DeGreef commented on the Red Shed's Facebook page after seeing how the restaurant responded to a review from a close friend.
"When I went there, the food wasn't that great, and I don't think this is a good way to treat your customers," said DeGreef.
The Red Shed used DeGreef's Facebook photo in the responses. One mentions DeGreef and painkillers. Another enlarges her face with what the restaurant says was a meme.
"We didn't handle our social media page quite the way that we should have," said Mark Allewelt.
Mark Allewelt is the owner. He said the post was not fat-shaming. The restaurant posted an apology on its Facebook page Thursday.
"We're throwing ourselves on the court of public opinion out there," said Allewelt. "We want to make this right. We support this community."
While the restaurant has apologized for this most recent incident, previous customers say this isn't the first time the Red Shed has had a bold reaction to negative reviews.
"You leave a review, and then all of a sudden, you're visited by an irate businessperson?" said Rob Collins, a former Red Shed customer.
Rob Collins says Allewelt showed up at his house because of one-star reviews. Collins filed a police report, saying Allewelt was hostile but gave him his money back.
"It's unprofessional when you just show up irate and just yell and complain," said Collins.
"They went out of their way to basically cyberbully my small business," said Allewelt.
The employee who posted the meme said it was stupid and has offered to apologize to DeGreef in person.
The Red Shed will open its kitchen up for free on Saturday afternoon to ask customers for a second chance.
