Related: Food Review Flame
Some people think that posting anything less than a glowing review of a restaurant is meant to be some way of getting back at them. Even generally positive reviews which mention one thing that could've been improved on can be negatively received.
The reality is that good and bad restaurants both exist. Not everywhere is going to be a 5 or even 4 star place. If everything is awesome, nothing is awesome. And sometimes that's fine. Sometimes price/value, speed, convenience or even needing to use up gift cards can be more important than food quality.
Restaurants, even small ones, are not entitled to our money. Many people don't eat out often, so when they do they should have access to informed opinions about where they are planning to spend their hard-earned money.
In addition, taste is subjective. There're places and dishes which other people like which I don't, and vice versa. And sometimes, the very reason I like a dish is the exact same reason someone else hates it, and vice versa. And that's fine. As they say in Latin, de gustibus non est disputandum (In matters of taste, there can be no disputes). But how will you know if tastes differs if no one is willing to talk about that?
Furthermore, not everyone appreciates negative feedback. I have been asked by an establishment for feedback in the past and the response has been negative. Clearly they were just asking for the sake of asking. If you look around I'm not the only one who's had this experience. If even places that actively ask for feedback aren't always sincere, imagine how unsolicited negative feedback might be received. I've even been told that when I get items for takeout I should call them and give them feedback. That's a lot of time and effort I need to go through to provide something that they may not even care about.
This is to say nothing of third party reactions. I've had dining companions chide me for offering areas for improvement when asked (even when I only mentioned one thing when I could've said multiple). I've even been told that if I tell them anything negative, they may spit in everyone's food. Once, a place asked me how my item was and I said that it tasted weird. They then offered to remake it for me and I accepted. However, the person that I was dining with got upset about this and started complaining. So clearly, there can be negativity even when giving places attempts to "let them make things right". Apparently the polite thing to do is to pretend that everything is great.
A while back, on Quora I read an answer (which I can't find anymore) by someone working in a restaurant (either a server, cook or restaurant manager) saying that customers who give negative feedback about the food are entitled, that restaurants have their own ways that they do things that they're not going to change for a customer, and that if you don't like how they do them, that's on you - but that if it's something obviously wrong like forgetting the salt, you should tell them. And indeed, when something is that obviously and (almost-)objectively off (or when items are missing or wrong), I do let them know.
And if an establishment does ask me what I thought, I do still tell them, even if I think they don't really want to know (a little spit in food never killed anyone anyway, and if the staff are really so spiteful, it's unlikely that the food is good enough that I'll want to go back).
