matts burger lab

Toronto restaurant calls out influencer for bad review

A Toronto burger joint is calling out an Instagram influencer after receiving a less than favourable review on the social media platform.

On Monday, the Instagrammer took to social media to share some thoughts on the food at Matt's Burger Lab in Parkdale and the review was anything but glowing. 

The Instagram account torontofoodwonders explained that they ordered a chicken meal called the Dead Magnet which was supposed to consist of two pieces of fried chicken thigh.

Instead, they claimed that they only got one piece of chicken and that the toppings - cheddar cheese, coleslaw, tomato, pickle, and smoked chipotle sauce - did not live up to expectations either.

Besides this, they commented that the food also had a "very weird sour taste".

Not thrilled to see the negative review posted to Instagram, the restaurant's owner and chef Matt Yilmaz claimed that while he respects everyone's right to express their own opinion, the influencer's post included some false statements.

In fact, he said that he attempted at clarifying some of these misunderstandings by leaving a comment on the post but that his comment was deleted twice. Instead, he had no choice but to share a screenshot of the review and the comment he attempted at leaving.

🥴HATER ALERT🥴 • Dear friends! @torontofoodwonders posted a photo of our chicken deal with his feedback this morning. We, as the BurgerLab team, wanted to clarify couple misunderstandings in his comment with all respect. However, our reply was deleted twice. So, we just wanted to share it here. We are totally aware of the fact that not everyone has to adore what we do in our kitchen and everyone has rights to express their thoughts however, if there is something not true based on reality, we believe it needs to be corrected. This is our #1 goal before serving good food. We appreciate your feedback at all times!!! And we are trying to do our best in these hard times. #cheers #nohatejustlove ❤️

A post shared by Matt’s Burger Lab | Toronto (@matts.burgerlab) on

"We don't understand how you came to a conclusion that we ground the chicken, because we simply don't," the screenshot reads. 

Yilmaz also added in his now-deleted comment that the combo the influencer ordered was not on promotion as they had claimed in their post but that a fried chicken burger, which consists of one chicken thigh, was actually on promotion.

"They have their own right, I agree with this," Yilmaz told blogTO, adding that the influencer wrote about the restaurant's chicken strips which is something that they do not serve. 

"But to have a smartphone is not enough to be a foodie or a blogger."

Yilmaz also said that this was disheartening to see, expecially during the pandemic, which has been difficult on all restaurant owners. 

"We are having a hard time during COVID," he said, noting that Matt's Burger Lab is only doing takeout orders and deliveries now that indoor dining has been shut down. 

"Like every restaurant owner, since the pandemic started, I tried to keep going. It's sad to see during this time." 

Lead photo by

Hector Vasquez


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