DON'T FORGET TO "LIKE" BEE-OTCH OF THE DAY ON FACEBOOK!
Name: Don Julio's Mexican Restaurant
Age: 2
Occupation: Mexican eating establishment
Last Seen: Cascade TWP, MI
Bee-otched For: dissing a veteran
---
In these tough economic times, if you own a business, you better keep your ass clean.
If you type in "Don Julio's Grand Rapids" in Google, reading the reviews for the Grand Rapids Mexican restaurant are like night and day. When it opened two years ago, the place was getting four and five-star reviews. Now, in the past few days, it's become the most-hated dining spot in town.
The reason? It rejected a guest they thought should never be allowed in the building, a former Bennigan's.
Frank Eckl, a 46-year-old father of four took his family out to eat Saturday night at Don Julio's, when a manager came and told him that one of his guests wasn't allowed in the restaurant, and had to stay in the lobby. Upset, he took his family - unwanted guest included - to the IHOP next door where everybody was treated much better.
The rejected member of Mr. Eckl's party? It was his dog, a black lab named Spruce.
It's perfectly legal for Eckl to take Spruce everywhere he goes. A Gulf War vet, he suffers seizures brought on by Gulf War Syndrome. Spruce is his service dog; when he suffers his seizures, it's Spruce's job to help rescue Eckl if he's collapsed to the ground. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, all public buildings must allow service animals, including restaurants. Spruce even wears a special jacket that specifies that he's a service dog.
The restaurant's manager told local NBC affiliate WOOD-TV that she defends her actions, stating that she didn't want dog hair spread throughout her restaurant. She knew that Spruce was a service dog, but felt that it wasn't her job to keep everybody happy.
Eckl isn't looking for monetary damages, but rather an apology and re-training of its staff.
I remember watching WOOD-TV interviewing the Don Julio's manager, and she came off as a total, cold, uncaring bitch. She acted like she could care less about the disabled, let alone somebody who fought for her freedom. Didn't I hear her say that she would do it again if another dog came into her site? I apologize to Mr. Eckl if he ever reads this because he's a born again Christian, but Goddamn her!
Oh, and here's the funny part: I found out the the owner of Don Julio's is an attorney from Mount Pleasant! Doesn't HE know the laws as well?
Don Julio's seems to be forgetting that there's a TON of restaurants up and down 28th Street, and many of them are indeed Mexican. Hell, there's Moe's Southwest Grill across the street, and I go there a great deal. True, Moe's is a hellhole for little bastards who yell and scream, plus the fact that their TVs are almost always affixed to the Fox News Channel, I would much rather eat there over paying more at a place that disses the disabled. I hope Don Julio's goes out of business over this piss-poor example of treating customers. I've never eaten there, and I never will.
One more thing: check out the Facebook page Boycott Don Julio's. Plenty of discussion there.
Together, we'll send Don Julio's south of the border.
---
Age: 2
Occupation: Mexican eating establishment
Last Seen: Cascade TWP, MI
Bee-otched For: dissing a veteran
---
In these tough economic times, if you own a business, you better keep your ass clean.
If you type in "Don Julio's Grand Rapids" in Google, reading the reviews for the Grand Rapids Mexican restaurant are like night and day. When it opened two years ago, the place was getting four and five-star reviews. Now, in the past few days, it's become the most-hated dining spot in town.
The reason? It rejected a guest they thought should never be allowed in the building, a former Bennigan's.
Frank Eckl, a 46-year-old father of four took his family out to eat Saturday night at Don Julio's, when a manager came and told him that one of his guests wasn't allowed in the restaurant, and had to stay in the lobby. Upset, he took his family - unwanted guest included - to the IHOP next door where everybody was treated much better.
The rejected member of Mr. Eckl's party? It was his dog, a black lab named Spruce.
It's perfectly legal for Eckl to take Spruce everywhere he goes. A Gulf War vet, he suffers seizures brought on by Gulf War Syndrome. Spruce is his service dog; when he suffers his seizures, it's Spruce's job to help rescue Eckl if he's collapsed to the ground. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, all public buildings must allow service animals, including restaurants. Spruce even wears a special jacket that specifies that he's a service dog.
The restaurant's manager told local NBC affiliate WOOD-TV that she defends her actions, stating that she didn't want dog hair spread throughout her restaurant. She knew that Spruce was a service dog, but felt that it wasn't her job to keep everybody happy.
Eckl isn't looking for monetary damages, but rather an apology and re-training of its staff.
I remember watching WOOD-TV interviewing the Don Julio's manager, and she came off as a total, cold, uncaring bitch. She acted like she could care less about the disabled, let alone somebody who fought for her freedom. Didn't I hear her say that she would do it again if another dog came into her site? I apologize to Mr. Eckl if he ever reads this because he's a born again Christian, but Goddamn her!
Oh, and here's the funny part: I found out the the owner of Don Julio's is an attorney from Mount Pleasant! Doesn't HE know the laws as well?
Don Julio's seems to be forgetting that there's a TON of restaurants up and down 28th Street, and many of them are indeed Mexican. Hell, there's Moe's Southwest Grill across the street, and I go there a great deal. True, Moe's is a hellhole for little bastards who yell and scream, plus the fact that their TVs are almost always affixed to the Fox News Channel, I would much rather eat there over paying more at a place that disses the disabled. I hope Don Julio's goes out of business over this piss-poor example of treating customers. I've never eaten there, and I never will.
One more thing: check out the Facebook page Boycott Don Julio's. Plenty of discussion there.
Together, we'll send Don Julio's south of the border.
---
Got a Bee-otch to nominate? E-mail us @ chuck69dotcom@gmail.com. All suggestions (except for me) are welcome!
Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com !
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
No comments:
Post a Comment