San Francisco Restaurant Owner Under Fire After Calling Toddlers 'Satanic' In Facebook Post
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Some eaters are boycotting a San Francisco restaurant after its owner called toddlers "satanic" and "exhausting" in a Facebook post that was meant to be private.
Zazie owner Jen Bennett wrote on a Cole Valley neighborhood Facebook group page: "This may shock you, but choosing to have children means you can't go out to eat for roughly 3 years. Please. Accept your fate -- it's killing me." Bennett talked about how she liked kids but added, "toddlers are satanic and it's exhausting. ... I'm dangerously close to child abuse."
Zazie is a Cole Valley hot spot, especially during brunch hours. It's the kind of place where customers spend about $20 on eggs Benedict and people will wait an hour just to get a table.
Parent Courtney Ameli says she understands Bennett's feelings.
"I also understand they make a huge mess. We deal with that at our house all the time, so I understand," Ameli said.
But, not everyone agreed.
"What's been said is unacceptable," one resident told KPIX.
"If you have children, and you want to go out to dinner, I think that you should be able to take them," another parent said.
Bennett was San Francisco's Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. She even hobnobbed with Michelle Obama, who was impressed that she runs a business that gives her employees health benefits and a 401K plan.
She explained Thursday that she has had an unpleasant experience with kids at a nearby sushi restaurant, prompting the post. Bennett said the incident causing her remarks had nothing to do with her restaurant and that children are very much welcome at her restaurant.
