Trendy cafe hits back at entitled food critic who erupted into foul-mouthed whinge after he missed out on trying their sold-out sandwiches a second time
A popular cafe has hit back after a TikTok food critic complained he was unable to review its sandwiches because they had run out of stock in an expletive-laden rant.
John-Ray Boukarim faced backlash after he visited the newly-opened cafe located at Marrickville, in Sydney 's Inner West, earlier this week.
It was the second time Mr Boukarim went to the venue but he was unable to review the food as it had run out of bread for sandwiches
In a rant shared on TikTok with his 14,000 followers, Mr Boukarim accused the owners of not knowing how to run a business.
'You think you would have your operation under control knowing what stock levels you would need in order to keep up with the demand, yet you still finish and run out of food an hour or two before you shut,' he said.
'F*** off, and stop wasting my time. Don't open up a business unless you know how to run it. Like seriously.'
Mr Boukarim said he had no intention of tarnishing the cafe and deliberately left out the name in his video.
Its owners have since spoken out, revealing the cafe was Bertas.
'We work out of a compact 36sqm space with a small tight-knit team and have up to eight people on deck during busy times,' they told news.com.au on Thursday.
'Every sandwich we serve is made fresh to order, and we make as much in-house as possible - often starting in the early hours and finishing late at night.
'We hate having to turn people away, especially as we started this place to offer a high-quality product at an accessible price.
'This is what starting something from scratch looks like, and we're all in.'
In his explosive video on Monday, Mr Boukarim claimed he and ten other customers in the cafe missed out on sandwiches.
'These idiots, "Oh we sold out". How do you sell out bro!' he said.
He suggested the owners 'up' their bread quantities and donate any excess to charity.
'I guarantee you selling an extra 15 sandwiches vs giving away 15 to 25 pieces of bread completely outweighs the stand alone bread cost,' Mr Boukarim wrote.
Social media users largely disagreed with Mr Boukarim's rant, with many scolding him for not visiting the cafe earlier on his second trip.
'That's just not how it works. If they sold out that means they're doing something right,' one wrote.
'You'd think you'd learn your lesson and go earlier the second time,' another said.
Others slammed the food reviewer for claiming the owner did not know how to run a business, claiming he was the one who lacked understanding of a cafe's logistics.
'I understand that frustration however, sometimes they can physically order as much as their establishments can store/make in their kitchen,' one commented.
'They have only been open for four weeks and you think they should have it down pact exactly how much stock they need?' another said.
Mr Boukarim replied to some of the comments claiming the video was a way for him to express himself and that 'for the most part' he was 'just taking the p***'.
Mr Boukarim told Daily Mail Australia he was hesitant to visit the cafe a third time due to his past experiences.
'My hope was to offer constructive criticism that could potentially benefit the business in the long run,' Mr Boukarim told Daily Mail Australia.
'I personally feel it's better for businesses to slightly over-prepare and then donate any surplus, or utilise it the next day if feasible.'
Mr Boukarim noted it was 'uncommon' for successful and established restaurants to frequently sell out of core items during their advertised hours.
'Imagine Maccas ran out of burger buns,' he said.
'While I get that unexpected things happen, it's those repeated issues - especially on a busy Saturday - that can really bother consumers.'
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