The hostess of a pizzeria in Austin, Texas, greeted food critics in an unfriendly manner, and her actions have been widely criticized online.
Brennen Taylor, a popular TikToker and food critic, often goes around asking strangers to recommend restaurants for him to try. In his most recent video, he asked a man who was walking his dog to give him a lunch recommendation, and the man recommended Via 313 Pizzeria.
As soon as Taylor and his friend walked into Via 313, the host rudely asked, “What do you want?” Taken aback, he introduced himself as a food critic and said that he would like to taste some pizza.
The host then asked if he was recording and said that she wouldn’t like to be recorded. The TikToker assured her that he wasn’t going to show her on camera and even tried to lighten the moment by saying that he would only record her if she said something funny. “…Don’t worry, we weren’t going to put you on it except you said something funny, but it doesn’t seem like that so far.”
When the host asked if they wanted to sit at a table, the food critic tried to further lighten the mood by saying, “Or we could stand.” However, she didn’t find it funny. Instead, she sarcastically replied, “That’s super funny.”
Taylor admitted that he was put off by how the host spoke to him when he walked in. Nevertheless, he committed himself to giving the place a chance by trying out the food. He and his partner ordered a Detroit-style pizza, a Jalapeno Poppa, and Buffalo Chicken, and noted that at least the server was nice.
When their food came, they complimented the appearance and presentation, and said that it tasted “so good.”
When the TikToker’s video went viral, several users online commended him for not letting the bad reception affect his review. One user wrote, “Props to him though, for not letting one bad employee tarnish his review of the entire business.” Another wrote, “‘What do you want’ is diabolical.”
Someone online added, “I [would’ve] NOT given my money to that place. Poor first impression. BYE.” Another user commented, “If someone greets me at a restaurant with ‘what do you want’ – imma just leave. Lol. I don’t need that negative energy in my food.”
Meanwhile, other users in the comment section rationalized the host’s behaviour, saying that she likely behaved that way because they were recording.
“She said that because you guys walked in recording. She wouldn’t have said that if you just normally walked in,” one user wrote. “Maybe it’s because so many people show up recording and like to ‘prank’ people, causing problems,” another added.
