Toronto restaurant under fire after customer alleges manager punched her
A Toronto restaurant known for its South American cuisine and live entertainment recently came under fire and was slammed with dozens of negative reviews after a customer alleged they were punched by the restaurant's manager.
La Latina, located at 150 Eglinton Avenue East, received an onslaught of criticism after a post by a Toronto mother that detailed the altercation picked up traction online.
"Where do I begin? A group of moms (myself included) decided to have a moms night out at La Latina Restaurant and ended up being harassed and punched in the face by their manager. He threatened us with having his security guards drag us out while his 'cop buddies' came to arrest us. We didn't do anything wrong," the Instagram post reads.
"We ordered four bottles and he asked us to leave five minutes after receiving them. He kept falsely accusing us of not wanting to pay the bill and when he brought the bill and slammed it on the table they were over charging us extra bottles we didn't order," the customer continues.
"On the way out he punched me and another girl just because we told him his service was shit and that he should be ashamed of himself for calling us trash, entitled and stupid b*tches to his staff (multiple staff members told us)."
Following the post, other customers who had allegedly witnessed the altercation began to leave one-star Google reviews for the business.
"The manager's conduct was deeply troubling. Not only did they fail to address these issues despite complaints, but they also exhibited a level of aggression that has no place in any setting, let alone a restaurant. I was disheartened to witness an altercation that escalated to physical violence against a female staff member," one recently-deleted review read.
"I will never recommend this place to anyone after what I witnessed when I went. The manager mishandled customers when I was there Saturday night and purposely hit a woman in the face, leaving her with a black eye and forcefully removing the group this lady was with, when they were on their way out," another person wrote.
"They were honestly speaking about the terrible service they were receiving that night, and he started accusing them of refusing to pay their bill when that wasn't the case."
blogTO reached out to La Latina for a statement on the ongoing allegations but did not receive comment back in time for this article.
Hector Vasquez
