Westerly restaurant stops in-person dining due to ‘irate’ and ‘abusive’ customers

July 10, 2020 5:32 pm

Amanda Pitts,

WESTERLY, R.I. (WLNE) – Two Little Fish, a seafood restaurant on Westerly’s Misquamicut Beach, have had too many problems with rude and difficult customers.

“What started to occur was people just did not want to follow the restrictions that were put into place to keep them safe.”

Owner Timothy Brennan said the clam shack opened indoor and outdoor dining services at the start of Phase 2, but their small space only allows for a total of five tables.

“The deck here might have four tables, but I can only occupy one of them. But people would see the three empty tables and say, ‘why can’t I sit there?’ And then be irate about it,” said Brennan.

Two Little Fish in Westerly is stopping indoor and outdoor dining for the rest of the season due to rude and difficult customers. Owner Tim Brennan said customers complained about social distancing & mask-wearing and berated the young staff. They’ll now only offer takeout. @ABC6 pic.twitter.com/NGvDuHBgjV

— Amanda Pitts (@APittsABC6) July 10, 2020

Customers also refused to wear masks while walking through the restaurant, Brennan added.

Some even requested to purchase just a soda and then tried to use their bathroom, which risks putting them over the 66% capacity limit indoors that’s required by the state.

“They would use profanity, raise their voices, make disparaging remarks. You know, we have 16-year-old kids working here. This is a family-run restaurant. So we just decided that, you know, so be it… this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year.“

Brennan decided to put an end to in-person dining and go back to strictly takeout only.

He posted the decision on Facebook, along with a video explaining the different safety measures they’ve been taking.

How we protect YOU from Covid-19, and how bad apples spoil the barrel

Two Little Fish will NO LONGER offer on-premise dining, inside OR out, this summer. We offered it as a courtesy to our customers despite the fact it is neither operationally nor economically feasible, as state-mandated Covid-19 restrictions limit us to 5 tables. For those of you who dined with us, and were gracious and courteous and understood the limitations we face while operating in a pandemic, WE THANK YOU. However, many "guests", when faced with these restrictions, refused to follow them, were profane, verbally abusive to our staff, and refused to follow the most basic instructions, which were put in place to PROTECT THEM. We do not need to be cursed at for requiring YOU to wear masks, not allowing you to switch tables without sanitizing them, the constant parade of "I wanna buy a soda so I can use your bathroom" when we are already at state limited building capacity, then enduring your profanity directed at us. IT"S A PANDEMIC, PEOPLE. DEAL WITH IT. So we are takeout for the rest of the year, here is a video of how we serve safe food and offer safe service. 🙁

Posted by Two Little Fish on Thursday, July 9, 2020

While the majority of his customers are great, Brennan said the few bad apples they saw daily made it not worth the effort.

“It’s not so much a safety issue anymore, it’s more like a respect issue that, you know, there are certain restrictions that are put into place. Don’t kill the messenger.“

Brennan said since posting about their difficult customers, Two Little Fish have received an outpouring of support and have seen an uptick in takeout orders.