Viral Reddit post mocking $22 grilled cheese – Business News
A San Francisco Bay space restaurateur stated she shut down each of her sandwich outlets after Reddit customers ripped her menu costs — together with $34 for a steak and eggs and $22 for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Kendra Kolling, founder of the artisanal sandwich store The Farmer’s Wife in Marin County, instructed SFGATE that a difficult financial climate was made worse by a viral Reddit post from final yr.
A Redditor took to the subreddit r/bayarea and posted an merchandise titled “Sandwich prices made me lol.”
A Reddit post that included a picture of the menu at The Farmer’s Wife went viral final yr. reddit/bayarea
The post prominently featured a giant picture of the menu objects and costs at one of the 2 Farmer’s Wife areas simply north of San Francisco.
The writer of the post added a caption which learn: “We are doomed,” and the remark part rapidly devolved into outright mockery, zeroing in on the $22 grilled cheese.
“It’s $10 for a slice of cheese, and $10 for a slice of bread. $2 tip included. Sounds reasonable for a sandwich shop in 21st-century dystopia,” one wrote.
Another added: “I could start my own grilled cheese stand right outside for 22 bucks.”
Reddit customers additionally zeroed in on a slew of jaw-dropping costs past the grilled cheese, together with a $34 “Steak + Eggs” sandwich made with beef filet, braised greens, a farm egg and aged cheddar.
Another menu standout was the $32 sizzling pastrami, piled with Swiss, cheddar, pickles and home dressing.
Kendra Kolling stated that the viral Reddit post had an antagonistic impression on her business. Foodwise
As the thread grew, jokes turned darker. “Is financing avail?” one person requested, prompting one other to quip, “Klarna gives you a pay in 4 option,” adopted by, “Three more payments and this reuben is gonna be all mine!”
One commenter summed it up bluntly: “Haha you’d never financially recover after ordering the pastrami.”
Kolling instructed SFGATE the viral Reddit post triggered a cascade of fallout online, with customers flooding Yelp and Google with one-star evaluations in what she described as review-bombing that sharply dragged down the store’s scores.
She stated the sudden surge of adverse evaluations damage visibility and buyer visitors, compounding current financial pressures and making it more durable for the business to get better within the months that adopted.
Kolling closed down each of The Farmer’s Wife areas within the San Francisco Bay Area. Google
“They were calling me the most vile things, that it was beyond sandwiches,” Kolling instructed SFGATE. “It was so hurtful and personal.”
Kolling first shuttered The Farmer’s Wife’s Sebastopol outpost at The Barlow in September, quietly closing the Wine Country location after years of working as one of the store’s two brick-and-mortar shops.
The closure got here months after the viral Reddit backlash, as rising prices and declining foot visitors weighed on the business.
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The remaining Point Reyes location stayed open longer however finally met the identical destiny, with Kolling closing the store earlier this month, marking the tip of The Farmer’s Wife’s bodily presence altogether.
She instructed SFGATE the choice was unavoidable, citing the cumulative toll of online backlash, financial strain and burnout after years working the business.
Bay Area small companies face some of the very best industrial rents and labor prices within the nation.
The viral Reddit post led to a flood of adverse evaluations on Yelp, in accordance with Kolling. Getty Images
While The Farmer’s Wife was not categorized as fast food, California’s $20-an-hour minimal wage for fast-food staff helped push wages greater throughout all the food service industry, squeezing already skinny margins.
At the identical time, the store’s farm-forward model got here with steep enter prices.
Grocery costs within the Bay Area climbed almost 27% over the previous 5 years, at the same time as restaurant revenue margins usually hover within the single digits.
Still, even less complicated objects carried luxury-level price tags. The store charged $30 for a smashburger, $30 for shepherd’s pie and $28 for a tuna soften whereas a ham and cheese sandwich dubbed the “Ham + Tam” rang up at $30.
Salads weren’t spared both.
A fundamental seasonal salad value $20, whereas the “farm market salad” topped with greens, goat cheese and toasted almonds climbed to $26, pushing the full properly previous $30 as soon as tax and tip have been added.
The Post has sought remark from Kolling.
