Restaurant Reviews and Liability

I am shocked that everyone on here thinks Joellas is so bad. I have been 3 times and never had soggy chicken. The sides are nothing to write home about...Royals is certainly a little more inspired in that area...but I have eaten at MUCH MUCH worse restaurants than Joellas. In fact I would say the food has been above average quality.

And who gives a crap about the decor? Its pretty freaking nice actually compared to a lot of restaurants I've eaten at. Certainly adequate for a fast casual fried chicken joint.

It seems like a lot of you that went and had a bad experience went opening week. I mean its spicy chicken tenders...I don't know what people are expecting when they eat there. Were you expecting a Chef Ed Lee deconstructed chicken tender with ghost pepper aioli? To me they are pretty high quality spicy chicken tenders and actually spicy as hell. And I eat a lot of spicy food.

Although Ed Lee's fried chicken at Milkwood is quite good, my point of reference was Prince's hot and medium quarters. Joella's was not up to par. I have no clue what the tenders are like at any of these places. But I am going to give the extra hot quarter at the Middletown location a shot one of these days.

No more Boombozz pizza for me. Never been to Joellas but now I definitely won't go. Gonna make sure to avoid any of this guys places from here forward.

It may not be "up to par" with Princes, I don't know I've never been. But that doesn't mean it's bad. This is not a bad restaurant, period. Clearly the majority of Louisville disagrees with most people on this forum as it has a 4 star rating with over 300 reviews on Yelp. Yes, I know let me guess..."its yelp". Well from what I've seen yelp restaurant reviews in this city are pretty accurate for restaurants I've eaten at. If they are crap...they get slammed. Sort of like...America the Diner or any other restaurant GP was associated with.

Regardless if you like the food or not, for a fellow local business owner to put this hit piece on his blog is disgusting. I don't see how its a "joke". It would be one thing if Joellas was an awful restaurant and Tony P was a bad business owner who deserved it, but neither of those are true. Honestly he seems to be a hell of a lot better restaurateur than the guys criticizing him. I am also a small business owner and we work our ass off to put out a good product like Tony probably does and if another local business owner published this trash on their blog trying to slam us I would be FURIOUS. Irascible. If you think the review is "funny"...let "Marcus Weston" put it on Yelp or his own blog and disassociate yourself from it.

For the record I have zero association with either party in this scuffle. Wouldn't know either one if I saw them on the street or they served me dinner at their respective restaurants. But from what I've gathered in this forum and other places online one is a big-talking hater with a lot of failed restaurants and one is a successful businessman who actually has places people like to eat. Does he deserve to get sued over a blog post? Prob not but I can see why Tony would want to pop him in the mouth.

End rant.

I grew up eating at Prince's and Mr. Boo's. In Nashville there are at least 3 other places besides Prince's that serve solid Nashville-style hot chicken, and there is a pretty clear standard I didn't think Joella's met. The breading was soft and the "hot" wasn't hot. I didn't hate it, but I was disappointed. I trust other people when they say Joella's has improved, and I will give them another shot now that Royals doesn't serve quarters anymore, but that was my experience. The fact that they're threatening to sue a random person over a harsh blog review is the only thing I can imagine getting mildly worked up over in this whole discussion.

I grew up eating at Prince's and Mr. Boo's. In Nashville there are at least 3 other places besides Prince's that serve solid Nashville-style hot chicken, and there is a pretty clear standard I didn't think Joella's met. The breading was soft and the "hot" wasn't hot. I didn't hate it, but I was disappointed. I trust other people when they say Joella's has improved, and I will give them another shot now that Royals doesn't serve quarters anymore, but that was my experience. The fact that they're threatening to sue a random person over a harsh blog review is the only thing I can imagine getting mildly worked up over in this whole discussion.

Imagine you own Joellas. I'm quite sure Tony P can deal with criticism as if i remember correctly there was a lot of it when Joellas opened including that the chicken wasn't hot enough and I believe he even came on here and apologized and said they are working on it and the sauce is now hotter. I doubt he thinks he will win any libel or slander case but he probably has a deep pocket book and so if GP wants to be an a-hole and mess with Tony's money, then hey two can play that game.

Again...its not a "random Person" its a fellow local chef. It makes it personal. Its not some random yelper or food critic. Even if he didn't write the article...which is pretty unbelievable...he published it on his own blog. Its just a prick move. Every other post on this forum is about the CJ reviewer and how she is so pretentious and whines about stuff like the decor. Well this blog post was that times ten. And yet people liked it?

Lets look at some of the fantastic food from America the Diner. Talk about throwing stones in a glass house. Boy, those Sysco fries look like they're cooked just right. Yum.

http://imgur.com/qcnT6h1

http://i.imgur.com/s76ACTd

http://imgur.com/Ey74bEB

Honestly, I imagine that if I owned Joella's, and I had a good business with steady customers and solid yelp reviews, I probably wouldn't care if a local chef posted a harsh review on his blog. I still don't see how the fact that the blog host (or author) is a local chef "makes it personal" or even important at all.

Honestly, I imagine that if I owned Joella's, and I had a good business with steady customers and solid yelp reviews, I probably wouldn't care if a local chef posted a harsh review on his blog. I still don't see how the fact that the blog host (or author) is a local chef "makes it personal" or even important at all.

Because there is only a couple of degrees of separation from anyone competing in the same business in a city this size. We can agree to disagree but you are speaking in hypotheticals and I'm speaking as an actual business owner.

Well said on all points Jason. And that food from America The Dinner looks terrible, not sure I'd feed that to my dog. Is this guy really a chef?

I just can't get over those pics you posted and this guy has the nerve to post a negative review??? Tater tots, really? Mac and Cheese on a burger? How inventive. Wow.

It may not be "up to par" with Princes, I don't know I've never been. But that doesn't mean it's bad. This is not a bad restaurant, period. Clearly the majority of Louisville disagrees with most people on this forum as it has a 4 star rating with over 300 reviews on Yelp. Yes, I know let me guess..."its yelp". Well from what I've seen yelp restaurant reviews in this city are pretty accurate for restaurants I've eaten at. If they are crap...they get slammed. Sort of like...America the Diner or any other restaurant GP was associated with.

Regardless if you like the food or not, for a fellow local business owner to put this hit piece on his blog is disgusting. I don't see how its a "joke". It would be one thing if Joellas was an awful restaurant and Tony P was a bad business owner who deserved it, but neither of those are true. Honestly he seems to be a hell of a lot better restaurateur than the guys criticizing him. I am also a small business owner and we work our ass off to put out a good product like Tony probably does and if another local business owner published this trash on their blog trying to slam us I would be FURIOUS. Irascible. If you think the review is "funny"...let "Marcus Weston" put it on Yelp or his own blog and disassociate yourself from it.

For the record I have zero association with either party in this scuffle. Wouldn't know either one if I saw them on the street or they served me dinner at their respective restaurants. But from what I've gathered in this forum and other places online one is a big-talking hater with a lot of failed restaurants and one is a successful businessman who actually has places people like to eat. Does he deserve to get sued over a blog post? Prob not but I can see why Tony would want to pop him in the mouth.

End rant.

Tony? Is that you?

lol not tony.

I've been a member of this forum for almost a decade. I don't post much mostly lurk to see if anyone has anything to say about new restaurants or openings. But this just really rubbed me the wrong way so I feel compelled to speak my mind. Others I'm sure disagree with me but i feel strongly about it.

[Robin Garr]

lol not tony.

I've been a member of this forum for almost a decade. I don't post much mostly lurk to see if anyone has anything to say about new restaurants or openings. But this just really rubbed me the wrong way so I feel compelled to speak my mind. Others I'm sure disagree with me but i feel strongly about it.

That's fair, Jason. I do try to be pretty consistent about letting opposing opinions stand and avoiding "group-think," as long as we can keep it civil.

I do detest trolls, though, and I keep catching a trollish scent at points in this thread. Not you.

Yes, I was picking up on that too.

lol not tony.

I've been a member of this forum for almost a decade. I don't post much mostly lurk to see if anyone has anything to say about new restaurants or openings. But this just really rubbed me the wrong way so I feel compelled to speak my mind. Others I'm sure disagree with me but i feel strongly about it.

That's fair, Jason. I do try to be pretty consistent about letting opposing opinions stand and avoiding "group-think," as long as we can keep it civil.

I do detest trolls, though, and I keep catching a trollish scent at points in this thread. Not you.

[Robin Garr]

Adios, Juan.