Wellington restaurant unfazed by backlash after Mayor Tory Whanau’s tipsy evening out

The Wellington restaurant which spoke out about Mayor Tory Whanau’s tipsy night out is facing backlash on social media, but the general manager is unfazed as “we’re still busy, so who cares?”

Staff at The Old Quarter revealed yesterday they had almost refused service to Whanau when she turned up tipsy on Friday evening but decided to serve her as she was eating food.

They claim she then became more intoxicated, asking the waiter if he knew who she was, and requesting he do the thing – seemingly hinting at favours.

Staff decided to cut her off, however, and Whanau left without paying the bill.

Whanau admits she was tipsy and forgot to pay – but says this was due to a miscommunication with her friend, where both thought the other had paid. She said she was not drunk and did not ask the waiter if he knew who she was.

Now, the restaurant is facing criticism on social media with people leaving negative reviews and saying they will boycott the eatery.

“Dear ‘The Old Quarter’. I’ve only recently discovered you and loved your food,” one person wrote

“Your media on the Mayor is disgraceful! I won’t be coming back regardless of the food.”

General manager Shay Lomas told the Herald he stood by his account of the evening – but at the end of the day, there was no harm done.

“From our point of view, we needed to cut her off and she said those things to [the waiter] – it was more of a game, tongue in cheek, but she definitely said it.

“Overall, nothing negative actually happened.”

He said the positive feedback had outweighed the negative, and even the bad reviews didn’t worry him.

“Every email is like, ‘Oh I’m not going to dine in here’, or ‘I was going to bring in my 60-person party but we won’t anymore because of your comments’, and it’s like well, we’re still busy – so who cares? There’s been no meaningful impact.”