A Sushi Restaurant Is Getting Thrashed Over Food-Shaming

A family-owned sushi restaurant in Canada is feeling the wrath of cancel culture after a TikTok accusing them of food-shaming went viral. The TikTok, which has amassed 1.4 million views in just five days, was posted by Cassandra Mauro following an unfortunate dining experience at Paper Crane Sushi Bar and Bistro in King City, Ontario.

Mauro claims that she and her friend Katherine went to the restaurant for a bite to eat following a tough workout. After ordering chicken fried rice, shrimp tempura, noodles, and two sushi rolls, Mauro said that Katherine went to order a third roll. That's when, Mauro alleges, the server stopped her saying, "No, no, no. Too much food. That's it." Mauro encouraged her friend to get the roll anyway — which she did — prompting the server to audibly huff before taking the order to the kitchen, according to the TikTok.

Before returning with their food, Mauro alleges that the restaurant manager approached the table and asked the two women if they were hungry before insisting that they move to a bigger table to accommodate all the food they ordered. In the TikTok, Mauro explains that the experience was "mortifying" and insisted she would not be going back to eat at the Paper Crane. And while it should have just been left at that, strangers on the internet saw Mauro's video and took it upon themselves to try and take down the restaurant for perceived "food shaming."

In the days following Cassandra Mauro's viral TikTok, the Canadian sushi restaurant began racking up a slew of negative reviews on Yelp and Google, which appear to reference Mauro's account. "Truly a disgusting place. The manager berated a customer for ordering too much," wrote one Yelp user from California. "This place needs to be shut down and investigated."

It didn't stop there: Monique R. from Lacy, Washington wrote, "It's 2023. Do better. We don't tolerate body shaming anymore. Your business deserves to suffer losses for this." Many other users, most of which were posting from the United States, wrote about Mauro's exact experience, claiming it was their own. As a response to this influx of negative comments, Yelp has currently disabled the ability to post new reviews about the restaurant while they determine whether the comments are referencing real experiences or are simply a result of trolling in response to the news.

After the onslaught of hateful comments — many of which called for the business to close — Paper Crane posted a response on Instagram apologizing profusely to Mauro and her friend. They explained that the family-run business employs many family members who speak English as a second language. They expressed embarrassment over the miscommunication and ensured that they are taking steps to address the language barrier. The post also noted that while they don't intend to shirk responsibility, they were forced to disable comments from the post as they were being bombarded with "threats and racially motivated harassment."