I've given WeirdDoughs a lot of chances because I genuinely wanted to like this place. I've been…read moreback several times over the past couple of months, and until now I've tried to make my reviews constructive, including giving them credit when they improved.
My first experience was frustrating. I waited about 12 minutes in line only to find they were out of multiple varieties, including plain, before 10:30 in the morning. With a menu built around an enormous variety of specialty flavors, running out of your most basic product that early felt like a focus on variety over execution. I left without ordering, which cost them what would have been roughly a $50 sale.
But I came back.
And to their credit, they apparently listened. On subsequent visits, the plain bagel availability issue seemed to be resolved, and I specifically acknowledged that in my second review. I also praised what they do well. Their bagels have an excellent texture and chew, and their schmears are outstanding.
My criticism of the bagel itself was pretty simple: the plain bagel is bland. Eat one without schmear or toppings and there just isn't much flavor there. The foundation is good, it needs more salt and character.
I'm a born and bred New Yorker, so sure, I'm picky about bagels. But this isn't some ridiculous "nothing outside New York is a real bagel" argument. Bodo's in Charlottesville makes an excellent bagel. Great bagels exist outside New York. My criticism is about these particular bagels, not their ZIP code or the water supply.
I also criticized the bacon, egg and cheese. A bagel with that good of a texture deserves better than a reheated, pre-formed egg patty and reheated bacon. Fresh eggs and fresh bacon cooked on a griddle should not be an unreasonable expectation at a bagel shop. Even McDonald's manages a freshly cooked egg on many of its breakfast sandwiches.
The coffee program also needs work. On my last visit, the pistachio latte had bitter espresso that fought with the sweetness of the syrup rather than balancing it. My wife's black coffee wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly hot and was more heavily roasted than we prefer.
For transparency, I owned and operated a third-wave café for six years, so yes, I probably notice these things more than the average customer. I know how difficult it is to consistently produce good espresso, and I also know what it's like to be on the other side of a customer review. We didn't agree with every criticism, but we listened and took it seriously.
And that is ultimately why I'm changing my opinion of this business.
After all of those visits and constructive comments, the owners made a public Facebook post poking fun at customers who had criticized their bagels, particularly the supposedly obnoxious New Yorkers. Fair enough. It was snarky and tongue-in-cheek, so I responded in kind. I joked with them, but I also repeated the same substantive criticism I'd made before: the plain bagel lacks flavor, the specialty flavors sometimes seem to take precedence over the fundamentals, and the breakfast sandwich deserves a freshly cooked egg.
Their response was essentially that perhaps their shop "isn't my spot" and they were "pretty OK with that."
Then someone told me that if I had nothing good to say I shouldn't say anything, suggested that perhaps I was the one with no taste, and attacked me personally for expressing an opinion.
I responded that customer criticism is part of running a business. You don't have to agree with it, and sometimes the customer may be wrong. But there's a big difference between disagreeing with feedback and insulting the customer or telling them to go somewhere else.
Their response?
They blocked me.
And that, unfortunately, is why this review is now very different from my previous one.
I can overlook a bland bagel. Recipes can be adjusted. I can overlook running out of plain bagels. In fact, they fixed that, and I publicly gave them credit for fixing it. Coffee can be dialed in. Fresh eggs can replace egg patties.
But you can't publicly build a brand around being snarky and busting the chops of your critics, then become offended when a customer gives a little of that attitude back.
If you're going to dish it out, you have to be able to take it.
And if your response to thoughtful criticism from a repeat customer is to tell him your business probably isn't for him, insult his taste, and ultimately block him, then perhaps the biggest thing WeirdDoughs needs to work on isn't the bagels.
It's how they treat customers who don't tell them exactly what they want to hear.
