What was there to like about that restaurant in the first place?
Not the question.
The question wouldnât come up. When a place has such a profound lack of concern for its staff and customers, no one whoâs paying attention would eat there twice.
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Yes.
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Some of the Yelp reviews for that shithole are pretty funny. Sort by Oldest First to avoid the fake reviews inspired by the NYE invitation.
And now, a response from La Scala:
Regarding New Yearâs Eve:
To begin with, weâd like to thank the many people who have been supportive of us for almost 65 years. You have believed in us and have continuously supported us through Covid-19 and now through this. Your messages of support have been received and appreciated more than you know.
Now to address the negative backlash:
This is the message the note was meant to convey:
With the dining ban set to expire on Dec. 28th we are hopeful of resuming some sort of table service and we are considering taking reservations for New Yearâs Eve. If this is something you would be interested in, please let us know. If allowed, and if there is enough interest, weâll contact you to secure a reservation.
Unfortunately, the person that wrote it tried to add some levity and said inside instead of outside. It didnât come out as intended, how we wanted to be represented, nor how we wanted to represent ourselves. That was the intention. If you can find fault in that, there is nothing more we can say. No harm was meant. We have consistently taken the most drastic steps to ensure guest and employee safety. The news sources keep focusing on âbe discreet.â How is putting a note in bags being secretive? How discreet is âtell your friends.â We simply wanted to ensure that our loyal guests and their friends had an opportunity to book a reservation should we be able to serve.
We do want to offer our sincerest apologies and our hearts go out to everyone that has lost a loved one to Covid-19, whether it is from the actual disease, suicide, alcohol, domestic violence, drug overdoses or cancer deaths due to lack of treatment. And to the generation of children not going to school to receive the benefit of social interaction, school lunches and the quality of education they deserve. We cannot forget all the people that are losing their businesses. If everyone would turn their hate to love and direct it to the people that need it instead of attacking small businesses trying to survive, that would be a much better use of their time.
For almost 65 years, La Scala has prided itself on integrity. For the Public Information Officer of the City of Beverly Hills to release statements without talking to Management is shameful. We may be famous, but we are just a small restaurant doing the best we can in hard times and trying to help our employees support their families. We hope you continue to support us, as well as other small businesses and restaurants. This is all we have to say on this matter.
Wishing everyone health, happiness and prosperity in the new year.
All the best,
La Scala
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âSet to expireâ? Where would they have gotten that idea?
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Itâs just a prank bro!
IIRC, the 3-week lockdown was originally going to âexpireâ shortly after Christmas. No defense of the restaurant, but I think thatâs what they were referring to.
Absolutely. Even before the pandemic I was seriously curtailing my dining out as I was being exposed to a lot more laissez faire attitudes from restaurateurs over their staff and suppliers, especially about increased wages and benefits. We forget what full bore capitalists a lot of these guys areâŚ
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Many, maybe, but not all, are full bore capitalists. With no data to back up a claim, Iâll still bet that most of the smaller restaurants, the ones that are perishing in droves in the absence of sane government management, arenât among them.
Quite strange. Their response to the backlash is as quizzical as their secret, not secret NYE invitation.
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It doesnât seem very plausible that this was a joke that fell flat, or that they seriously thought restaurants would be reopening for indoor dining with ICUs overwhelmed.
âIt was just a jokeâ is a very common tactic for right-wing trolls.
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Make time to read these pieces:
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Everyone has their line and itâs hard to speak for others. But for myself, I try to avoid establishments that are super blatant. I avoided Chick-a-Fila for years. I havenât shopped in Wal-Mart for quite a long time even when we were a young broke married couple. But I do shop at Target and I know some people find them problematic. So I think those kinds of situations arise for restaurant choices too.
That said, I understand what a privilege it is to be able to make those kinds of choices too.
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This.
Most restauranteurs are desperate yet abide by the guidelines. I have a certain nostalgia for La Scala and a few other old-timey restaurants but that was an arrogant move and just doesnât fly anymore.
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Ugh⌠I actually would have just rolled my eyes that it was a dumb mistake but then he they had to throw in there right winger talking points about schools and cancer patients⌠That told me all I needed to know from what lens this is all coming from.
âDommy!
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I know. Total turnoff.
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I think it best to simply say, âThis is an interesting read,â and leave it at that.
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I read it a while ago - was there something in it that you object to?