15/09/2026
We don’t normally make posts like this, but yesterday something happened that we feel is worth addressing.
Three young customers visited us, ordered food and drinks, finished their meals and spent time on our terrace. At no point during their visit did they tell our team that there was a problem with their food or that they were unhappy.
Had they said something, we would have happily replaced the dishes, offered something different or, where appropriate, removed an item from the bill. That is what we always try to do when a customer is genuinely unhappy.
Instead, while they were still sitting on our terrace, several negative Google reviews appeared. Our staff could see that the reviews were being written, and even after we responded to them, the customers remained on the terrace laughing about the situation.
We completely accept criticism. We are a small independent business that opened its doors only last year, and we have received both wonderful reviews and negative ones. We value both, because constructive criticism helps us improve.
But there is a difference between genuine feedback and treating a small business’s reputation as a joke.
Behind every small business are real people. There are employees who work hard, suppliers who need to be paid, bills to cover and owners who put an enormous amount of time and energy into trying to create something good. A one-star review may take someone 30 seconds to write, but its impact on a small business can last much longer.
If something isn’t right when you visit us, please tell us. Give us the opportunity to fix it. We won’t always get everything perfect, but we will always listen and do our best to make things right.
And to our fellow small-business owners: if you ever receive reviews like these, don’t let them discourage you. Sometimes a review says more about the situation in which it was written than about the business itself.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Xaloc. ❤️
— The Xaloc Team
