Reddit Destroyed This Restaurant Over a $22 Grilled Cheese — Now It’s Out of Business
The pricey menu at Farmer’s Wife in Marin County sparked outrage that spiraled into a delgue of one-star reviews.
A San Francisco Bay Area restaurant owner had to shut down both of her sandwich shops after Reddit users ripped her menu prices. Kendra Kolling, founder of The Farmer’s Wife in tony Marin County, charged $22 for a grilled cheese sandwich and $34 for a steak and eggs sandwich, but Reddit users weren’t having it.
A post titled “Sandwich prices made me lol” went viral last year, sparking brutal mockery. “It’s $10 for a slice of cheese, and $10 for a slice of bread,” one user wrote. Another joked about financing options: “Three more payments and this reuben is gonna be all mine!” The backlash quickly spiraled into review-bombing on Yelp and Google with one-star reviews that Kolling said included “vile” personal attacks.
Kolling closed The Farmer’s Wife’s Sebastopol location in September and shuttered the Point Reyes location earlier this month. She told SFGATE the viral post made an already challenging economic climate impossible to overcome. Bay Area restaurants face some of the highest commercial rents and labor costs in the country, with grocery prices climbing nearly 27% over five years.
A San Francisco Bay Area restaurant owner had to shut down both of her sandwich shops after Reddit users ripped her menu prices. Kendra Kolling, founder of The Farmer’s Wife in tony Marin County, charged $22 for a grilled cheese sandwich and $34 for a steak and eggs sandwich, but Reddit users weren’t having it.
A post titled “Sandwich prices made me lol” went viral last year, sparking brutal mockery. “It’s $10 for a slice of cheese, and $10 for a slice of bread,” one user wrote. Another joked about financing options: “Three more payments and this reuben is gonna be all mine!” The backlash quickly spiraled into review-bombing on Yelp and Google with one-star reviews that Kolling said included “vile” personal attacks.
Kolling closed The Farmer’s Wife’s Sebastopol location in September and shuttered the Point Reyes location earlier this month. She told SFGATE the viral post made an already challenging economic climate impossible to overcome. Bay Area restaurants face some of the highest commercial rents and labor costs in the country, with grocery prices climbing nearly 27% over five years.
