Writing a restaurant review for class and the owner kept refilling my water. Now I feel biased

[DonBrown]

Had to write a review of a local restaurant for my hospitality class. Went to this small family-owned place. Food was... fine. Not amazing, not terrible. Solidly average.

But the owner kept coming by. Refilling water. Asking how everything was. Smiling. Being so genuinely nice that by the end I felt like I was reviewing a friend's cooking, not a business.

Now I'm sitting down to write and everything feels skewed. The slightly dry chicken? Well, they were busy. The slow service? They seemed understaffed. The high prices? Probably quality ingredients. I'm making excuses in my head because a nice man kept my water glass full.

How do you stay objective when people are kind? When you know the review might affect their actual livelihood? When it's not just an assignment but a real person's business?

My professor wants "brutal honesty." But brutal honesty feels cruel when I'm writing about someone who probably works 80 hours a week to keep their dream alive.

I'll probably land somewhere in the middle. Honest about the food, kind about the people. But man, this is harder than I expected. Anyone else struggle with reviewing real people's work?

 

[Samantha]

Hey DonBrown, this is actually such a thoughtful dilemma. Your professor wants "brutal honesty" but real life isn't brutal—it's complicated. A review that acknowledges the kindness AND honestly assesses the food is more valuable than pure brutality. You're learning something deeper than restaurant critique here.