A one-star review of popular South Knoxville restaurant Landing House has fans seeing all the colors of the rainbow, after the Google reviewer posted she found the eatery’s Pride flag to be “disgraceful.”
The woman, who has a number of negative reviews to her credit, posted the flag made her “extremely uncomfortable” and caused her to leave because it was not something she could morally support.
Landing House, which specializes in Chinese and Cambodian inspired food served in a homey atmosphere, was quick to fight back, posting, “Well, Stephanie, your patronage is not needed or wanted” on its Facebook page.
More than 1,000 people responded on the restaurant’s pages to offer their support, with one commenter posting, “The rainbow is inclusive of all colors, Stephanie. The pride flag includes you, too.”
The negative review spurred several locals to post that while they had not yet tried Landing House, they were making a point to eat there as soon as possible.
Fans also began flocking to Google to submit five-star reviews, with one reviewer writing, “the food is great, and the loving environment is even greater,” before adding a series of rainbow hearts.
The owners doubled down with a humorous rebuttal on Instagram, writing, “In the restaurant biz, every review counts! But in life there are no absolutes. That being said, No thank you, Stephanie, we’re not that type of restaurant. Go have some hater taters somewhere else.”
Liz Kellar is a Tennessee Connect reporter. Email [email protected]. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.