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BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
Sat Jun 21, 2014, 11:28 PM Jun 2014

Woman Asks About Vegan Options, Restaurant Says 'Shut Up Fat Girl'

April experienced a very rude awakening when she messaged Oak Lawn, Illinois's SIP Appetizer Bar asking if they had any vegan options. The response? "Go fuck yourself, Andy" and then "Fat Girls, shouldn't talk..."

You can view the screenshot of their conversation here:

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--z42qM42R--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/778035586572439951.png


I assumed a troll got onto the restaurants facebook page, so I emailed the restaurant and left a voicemail. I got no response. A week later, I did it again, and I never got a response.


About a week after that, I found out a friend of mine had a relative that worked for the restaurant! I let him know that something was up with their fb/vm because no business would operate like that. He let me know that a) The person who contacted me was the owners son and b) NOTHING was wrong with any of their systems. They just didn't care.

What makes this even more rude is that April has struggled with weight issues her whole life, until going vegan 2.5 years ago allowed her to go from 315 pounds at her heaviest to 170. Hopefully this story will motivate the SIP proprietors and others who are callous about people's bodies to change their tunes, or at least to observe the golden rule.


After she left a review on Yelp detailing her experience, the press got word of it. Eventually the owner of the restaurant contacted the press to insist someone else had control of their account. Hmmm.

http://jezebel.com/woman-asks-about-vegan-options-restaurant-says-shut-up-1594217274?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
31 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Woman Asks About Vegan Options, Restaurant Says 'Shut Up Fat Girl' (Original Post) BainsBane Jun 2014 OP
Hmmmm....I wonder what ever happened to "No, sorry, we don't have any." nt napi21 Jun 2014 #1
I thought us vegans were supposed to be the assholes. NuclearDem Jun 2014 #2
I hadn't heard that one BainsBane Jun 2014 #3
I Have billhicks76 Jun 2014 #4
Huh BainsBane Jun 2014 #5
Lol billhicks76 Jun 2014 #25
I realize that. BainsBane Jun 2014 #30
Vegan here, too. I know what you mean. C Moon Jun 2014 #13
Illinois Secretary of State has no record of this business flvegan Jun 2014 #6
There is a Yelp page BainsBane Jun 2014 #7
It exists BainsBane Jun 2014 #8
I'm not questioning if they exist, at least not legally. flvegan Jun 2014 #10
Here's their FB page, it's existed for a while. LeftyMom Jun 2014 #9
When Facebook trumps the state's division of corporations flvegan Jun 2014 #11
I don't suppose it occured to you BainsBane Jun 2014 #14
Yes it did. flvegan Jun 2014 #15
I'm not that concerned BainsBane Jun 2014 #16
Do you want the names of the owners? LeftyMom Jun 2014 #17
Already known. flvegan Jun 2014 #18
At this rate, not for long BainsBane Jun 2014 #12
SIP Appetizer Bar has their own website TorchTheWitch Jun 2014 #21
K&R DeSwiss Jun 2014 #19
What a nice thing to post BainsBane Jun 2014 #20
Problems GeorgeGist Jun 2014 #22
Maybe it took them that long to answer. LisaL Jun 2014 #23
I figured there was a picture BainsBane Jun 2014 #24
They have been known to happen davidpdx Jun 2014 #27
That's pretty unreal (if true) that someone associated with a business would be that rude davidpdx Jun 2014 #26
da fuq? Cali_Democrat Jun 2014 #28
From the article no one is reading, this is jezebel after all... Jesus Malverde Jun 2014 #29
Yes, I tried to summarize that at the end BainsBane Jun 2014 #31

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
3. I hadn't heard that one
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 12:00 AM
Jun 2014

I'm guessing the restaurant owner's son, or whoever did the tweeting, was committed to the same conception of free speech that is all the rage on DU of late.

 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
4. I Have
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 01:16 AM
Jun 2014

There is this theory out there that Vegans are self-centered and get in your face. How ironic is that? Yeah right they do it because they are all about themselves. Wtf. The insecurity and passive aggressiveness exibited by people who feel threatened by others people's choices or ideas knows no bounds. Everything always really comes down to not seeing things as they are but rather how you are. Most vegans are quiet and not self-promoting and the defensiveness is so bizarrely laughable it reminds me of people who freak out when you point out inconsistencies in things like the 911 official story. The running joke is," What does a Vegan really believe?"..."Don't worry...he'll tell you ." No doubt from the recent circle phenomenon of born again, trendy bacon lovers.

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
5. Huh
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 01:35 AM
Jun 2014

It never occurred to me to pass judgment over someone's character because of what they don't eat.
That sucks.

C Moon

(12,188 posts)
13. Vegan here, too. I know what you mean.
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 01:58 AM
Jun 2014

But more often than not, just asking if they can "make it without cheese," can get eyes rolling.

flvegan

(64,389 posts)
6. Illinois Secretary of State has no record of this business
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 01:36 AM
Jun 2014

under that name that I can see.

Just sayin'.

flvegan

(64,389 posts)
11. When Facebook trumps the state's division of corporations
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 01:55 AM
Jun 2014

and the operation of same, I'll be interested in it. Otherwise...

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
16. I'm not that concerned
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 02:01 AM
Jun 2014

There is enough of an internet presence to show it exists. Beyond that, whatever.

LeftyMom

(49,212 posts)
17. Do you want the names of the owners?
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 02:02 AM
Jun 2014

The IL SOS' website has a fucking awful search function, I'm playing with it and I think the problem is just that it's very limited in search options. So if their corporate name is Some Vague Thing, LLC that isn't the dining establishment's name or the name of either of the principals (I checked that, one returned no results the other is a fairly common noun that turns up a million results I have no desire to wade through) you're SOL.

edit: In any case they've been serving alcohol for a year and a half. Since liquor licenses are a huge source of state revenue it's a safe bet that they have their I's dotted and T's crossed. Otherwise they'd have been shut down oh... a year and change ago.

flvegan

(64,389 posts)
18. Already known.
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 02:06 AM
Jun 2014

The property, the business. The owners, the family(s)...It's all comedy to me at this point.

TorchTheWitch

(11,065 posts)
21. SIP Appetizer Bar has their own website
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 03:31 AM
Jun 2014
http://sipappetizerbar.com/

They may be incorporated under a different name than the name of the restaurant (ie: SIP Beverage, SIP & Co., SIP Restaurants, etc.)

Also, I highly doubt the owner themselves has anything to do with their online or telephone services and that those things are delegated to some manager or supervisor or even some other underling that works there. I worked at a bar for over five years that had three owners two of which no one knew who they were and the third we wished would just butt out since he was a fool that always overrode the manager that knew what he was doing yet every single time the owner was proven wrong, and though the manager proven to be right he still blamed the manager every time and still continued to make idiot decisions and override the manager. None of the three owners had anything at all to do with customer calls, emails or the bar's online presence, and two of them had nothing to do with the bar at all. The manager used to do these little things until he had to delegate all that to a supervisor who without the manager's knowledge delegated it to his buddy one of the doormen because he liked to sleep in the office and make everyone else do his work.

It's a very rare bar or restaurant that the owner is hands on particularly with the little things or is any good at it anyway. I would never blame any restaurant/bar owner for not knowing these online things at all until it got to be so big as to finally come to their attention if it ever does at all... I can see why no one that worked there including the owner's son would want the owner to know about their having been such a stupid asshole that did something terrible and public that could effect the restaurant/bar. There's no doubt in my mind that her emails, voice mails, etc. never reached the owner and that happened by design. And when it finally did, oh yeah, I can totally see whoever the dumbass was made up a plausible story that their facebook was hacked or it was someone else that did it but don't know who, etc. to save their own ass.

GeorgeGist

(25,294 posts)
22. Problems
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 07:45 AM
Jun 2014

1. There is a 2 month delay between tweets.
2. The response is to Andy not April.
3. SIP couldn't know that April was overweight from a tweet.

LisaL

(44,962 posts)
23. Maybe it took them that long to answer.
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 10:30 AM
Jun 2014

There is also a photo included with the tweet (although she doesn't look overweight in it).
Per Jezebel article, Andy is the name of the owner.

BainsBane

(53,003 posts)
24. I figured there was a picture
Sun Jun 22, 2014, 12:36 PM
Jun 2014

but the one up there doesn't look overweight at all. I didn't notice the gap in dates. It could well be a hoax, which would totally suck for that bar.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
27. They have been known to happen
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 02:38 AM
Jun 2014

Remember the one about the waitress that said that a family stiffed her a tip on an expensive dinner and posted the receipt. It turned out later she was full of it. It is hard to know whether or not to trust stories like this.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
26. That's pretty unreal (if true) that someone associated with a business would be that rude
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 02:36 AM
Jun 2014

especially given the possibilities with technology of letting people know their experience as a customer (or potential customer in this case). If I were the owner I'd be tracking down exactly where that came from instead of making excuses. My account got hacked didn't work well for Anthony Wiener. It is just a lame excuse.

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
29. From the article no one is reading, this is jezebel after all...
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 03:17 AM
Jun 2014
UPDATE: We got owner Andy Papas as well as SIP's former general manager Josh Corbett on the phone. They say that the SIP account that messaged April is run by a disgruntled former manager posing as them. Corbett also alleges that he tried to get in contact with April after her negative review but that she did not respond. For her part, April contends that SIP deleted the original page and created a new one after she contacted them. She maintains that nobody has ever reached out to her.
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