14-07-2025
The Customer Isn't Always Right
It wasn't too long after Justin Lerias opened his Ravenswood bakery Del Sur, in March that the haters started weighing in. There were online profanity-laced remarks by customers who didn't manage to secure a certain sought-after pastry. There were the rumors that Del Sur was paying people to wait in line or that they paid content creators for posts. And there was the customer who berated a Del Sur employee for its policy of one-of-each pastry limit, put in place to help ensure more people can enjoy them.
'You can tell if they've never worked in a service job before,' says Lerias.
Since opening in March, Del Sur's Filipino baked goods have skyrocketed in popularity, drawing lines where would-be customers can routinely expect to wait up to two hours. And with that attention have come the complaints. 'There are repercussions of being too popular,' says Lerias — who, for the record, doesn't think folks should wait two hours for a pastry, either.
Justin Lerias of Del Sur has been vigiliant in paying attention to online banter about his Ravenswood bakery. Kim Kovacik/Eater Chicago
Lerias reports that the majority of Del Sur's customers have been 'great and supportive,' and that he is open to criticism. But that doesn't calm the sting from the ones who aren't kind. The pressure from demanding customers became such that Lerias addressed the long waits in an Instagram post on April 12, while also establishing a boundary: 'This space is meant for everyone—both customers and employees—to feel safe and valued. We will always welcome feedback and concerns, but ask that they be shared with kindness and respect,' the post reads. Additionally, Lerias has put up signage detailing the one-of-each-pastry policy as well as asking customers to check with employees before taking videos or photos. The bakery posts updates throughout the day on what pastries are available.
'We can't keep letting customers get away with shitty behavior,' says Lerias. 'This whole narrative of 'the customer is always right,' I don't subscribe to it.'
Lerias isn't alone in his less customer-coddling approach to hospitality. Call it a hangover from pandemic trends towards addressing rude behavior or simply a backlash to the resurgence of restaurant lines, but more and more businesses are deciding to bite back when it comes to impolite patrons.
***
'I have banned people if they are slightly rude to my employees,' says Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten, owner of Loba Pastry & Coffee in North Center.
Recently, she couldn't help herself from responding to a post from a customer describing an incident that supposedly happened at the shop. Due to its limited size and desire not to become a workplace, the cafe doesn't have Wi-Fi or outlets at the tables, and posts signs on the doors and tables explaining the policy. (In the past, Loba has allowed laptops at the counter and offered it as an alternative to those at tables if seats were available; however, a recent refresh removed that bar space, making Loba officially a laptop-free zone.)
Recently, Socorro noticed a customer working on her laptop at a table and informed her of the policy. The customer seemed understanding and left, she recalls. However, later that day, the woman's husband posted a comment on Lobo's Instagram account, claiming that his wife was 'insulted and yelled at in front of the entire restaurant.' The comment continued: 'The incident was so upsetting, it made my wife cry. Unfortunately, this experience felt discriminatory...'
Valeria Socorro of Loba Pastry turned to Instagram to dispel a false story shared online. Chris Peters/Eater Chicago
Socorro didn't hesitate to clap back at the 'outlandish accusations,' replying to the commenter that there was video footage available to dispute his remarks. 'She left promptly. No yelling, no husband, no tears,' Soccoro wrote in Loba's Instagram stories. 'I've learned after almost 10 years of owning my own business that there is no limit as to what people feel entitled to,' she says. 'Call it being jaded or being a minority-, immigrant- and woman-owned business, but I will not accept this entitlement, not for myself or my employees.'
Socorro also rejects the-customer-is-always-right philosophy, but feels that it doesn't need to get in the way of good hospitality. 'They still deserve kindness, and we treat them with respect and try to hear them out.'
At the recently opened Anticonquista Café in Pilsen, owners and married couple Lauren Reese and Elmer Fajardo Pacheco haven't experienced any bad behavior from customers yet, but they have put measures in place to help ensure they don't.
One of those was initiated by a non-customer who came in to complain about the cafe's pro-Palestinian artwork. 'We used the experience to communicate to our staff that even if they agree with some of the causes Anticonquista Café supports, we don't expect them to put themselves in a position to defend these causes as their safety is our priority,' the couple wrote in an email. 'We've asked staff if any person, customer or not, harasses them by any means, to get one of us immediately to deal with said person, or to direct them to speak with us.'
Additionally, the cafe made a post in early March asking customers to be patient with their new employees. Anticonquista's workbar, community tables, and dining tables also feature signage that includes the cafe's Wi-Fi password as well as verbiage asking customers to not engage in video meetings and to obtain consent from individuals prior to taking photos or videos. 'Our immigrant community doesn't need any additional surveillances,' they write. Since opening, they've had no pushback regarding the policy, and some have even expressed it makes them feel safer.
The couple approaches their business in a way that elevates their autonomy as producers, thus helping put distance between themselves and the principle of the customer always being right, which they say is rooted in capitalism, where consumers have the power to determine what is produced and how businesses can operate. They are hoping their target audience appreciates their mission. 'That will be the ultimate test of our sustainability: Are there enough consumers who are in solidarity with what we're trying to achieve?'
Pie Pie My Darling shows off supportive messages on the bakery's bulletin board. Pie Pie My Darling
For Heather Bodine-Lederman, owner of West Town's vegan bakery Pie Pie My Darling, her 'I'm-not-going-to-take-it-anymore' moment came during COVID. With a skeleton staff, she was offering limited drops of 50 birthday cakes; they'd sell out in minutes. Not too long after, aggressive emails began filling her inbox from those who didn't score one, ranging from 'It's not fair that you're doing this' to 'This was the one thing I was looking forward to and you ruined my entire year.'
Bodine-Lederman addressed the situation on Instagram, explaining how hard she and her staff were working and that she was shocked by the anger they were receiving and that the aggression wasn't okay.
What followed almost made her quit the industry. 'A customer wrote me a several-paragraph-long anonymous email telling me I'm mentally ill and need to 'tell these things to a therapist, not your customer base,'' she says. 'They were shaming me for showing behind the veil of the business.'
From that point forward, she vowed to be more transparent. When she posted about the email, her regular customers sent her cards with supportive messages. Bodine-Lederman put them on a bulletin board, which still hangs in her shop's kitchen.
Since then, things have gotten better, even when she expresses views some might disagree with — such as, say, her Fuck Trump cookies. 'I'm open politically, and there's a certain customer base that avoids us, and we're not trying to attract them either,' she says.
'Little parts of my soul were dying when I would let people walk all over me,' she says. 'It's calmed down for us because people have seen I won't let people step all over me. You have to teach people how to treat you.'
For Lerias, that process is just beginning.
'I believe that as we have a newer generation of people that will start taking over the industry, it's important to change some aspects of it so that they feel safe. We are starting to see that a lot,' says Lerias. 'Del Sur has been called a very Gen Z bakery, and it's true. We are run by Gen Z, and that's part of our identity and speaks to the different way we approach things. In order for us to stay sustainable as a business, we will keep doing it.'
Eater Chicago
All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
