Wellington restaurant unfazed by backlash after mayor Tory Whanau's tipsy evening out

Author: Vita Molyneux and Georgina Campbell,
Publish Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2023, 3:28PM

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 saying: “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 going to have a meal too.

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.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau holding a bottle of wine, in discussion with a waiter, outside The Old Quarter on Friday. Photo / Supplied

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.

Plenty of people were dining or enjoying a drink at Old Quarter today, despite some backlash the restaurant has received. Photo /Mark Mitchell

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

“I won’t be in there in the foreseeable future. I have worked in the hospitality trade in my younger-running bars until l started my own business and discretion is so important,” another person wrote on Facebook.

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

The restaurant which spoke out about Mayor Tory Whanau’s tipsy night out is facing backlash on social media. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“From our point of view, we felt like we did need to cut her off and she said those things to [the waiter] – she did say ‘do you know who I am?’ but she didn’t mean it in a negative way.”

Lomas said it was more of a tongue in cheek comment.

“Overall, nothing actually negative really happened.”

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

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

At 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, there were plenty of people dining or enjoying a drink at the restaurant.