Restaurant Owner Defends Homeless Man Living Outside His Store After 1-Star Review

Aug 04, 2021

Owning a business can be filled with many challenges but also amazing opportunities to meet new people while working toward making your passion a reality. Brad Keiller is the owner of Nomad Donuts, a donut and bagel shop in San Diego, California. While the shop is most known for its eclectic donuts, it is now being recognized for its kind ownership and caring customers.

Ray is a homeless man who frequents Nomad Donuts and enjoys standing and sitting outside the building at most hours of the day. He typically keeps to himself and tries not to bother anyone. Many people, including the staff and customers, have grown accustomed to seeing Ray at the restaurant and have even grown to develop a great relationship with the man, including Keiller. While many customers are typically happy to see Ray, one customer, in particular, was not too thrilled about seeing a homeless man outside of the restaurant and even left the restaurant a one-star review on Yelp back in November 2019.

This didn’t sit well with Keiller, and he fought back and defended Ray. Several new and returning customers have come out in support of the restaurant’s decision to defend Ray and wanted to show it. The owner’s response has since gone viral on various social media platforms, resulting in even more people coming to the restaurant to give the breakfast foods a try. Keiller has continued to spread awareness about including everyone who is part of the community and making sure his donut shop is a safe place for anyone to come to visit.

The one-star Yelp review from November 2019 was screenshotted and uploaded to Reddit the following week. In the review, the reviewer said that seeing a homeless person “live” against the front entrance of the restaurant “really makes me feel great about spending $5 on a jelly donut.” He explained that he had noticed the man for about a year. Keiller responded to the review and stood up for his business and for the homeless man named Ray.

“Ray is a former computer programmer with some physical and psychological challenges but he is very intelligent and respectful,” Keiller wrote. “I speak with him almost everyday. I like him.” The business owner also mentioned that his building provides Ray with shelter and helps keep him warm at night.

Keiller went on to explain that he had no intention of making Ray go away as he tries his best not to bother anyone. “If you stop and talk with him maybe you’ll come to like him too,” Keiller concluded. Keeping the community bond strong, Keiller defended Ray and has brought in a new wave of positivity to his donut shop.

According to Scripps National News, many people felt inspired to come into the shop after hearing about Keiller’s response defending the homeless man. “Well a lot of people are coming out here to turn a negative into a positive,” one customer said. Ray opened up about how surprised he was that someone stood up for him. “Wow, someone stood up for me,” he said in disbelief and admitted that he doesn’t “get that a lot.”

What did you think about this restaurant owner’s response to a negative review? What would you do if you were in his position? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends, too!