‘AITA for blaming my pescatarian friend for accidentally eating meat at a restaurant?’

OP (23F) goes out for a meal with her friend (25F) who has been a pescatarian since she was 14. They went to a new restaurant where her friend ordered squid and OP had beef. When their food arrived, her friend’s meal came with dark meat. She took a bite, called the waiter, and he said she got the wrong order. The restaurant apologized, replaced the meal, removed the charge from our bill, and even offered us free dessert. Her friend appeared to be pretty cool with it and even tipped on the way out.

The next day, though, OP found her friend had gone on and left a vicious 1-star review on Google saying the error in question was “unacceptable,” that she was “very upset,” and wanted compensation in the form of, oh yes, ADDITIONAL free items—after OP had already apologized profusely and comped her several things. OP then called her out, told her to not be so insensitive and that it was partly her own fault for eating the meat without checking what it is, which resulted in the friend being mad and ghosting OP after that. And so now OP is wondering whether she was in the wrong for bringing this up.

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In short, the Friend’s review seems disproportionate

But, as discussed, mistakes can happen at restaurants, and while this was not a great experience, the restaurant worked to make it right:

They took out the wrong thing from the check.

Several rounds of apologies were expressed.

They gave us free desserts.

The friend thankfully took the apology and even left a tip so she must not have been that pissed at the moment.

With all these efforts, a 1-star review and a charge sbh for more do seem unfair. To compare what makes an overall experience against a one-off mistake (and a late one at that) seems ludicrous to me.

The Friend Had A Chance To Step Up

Yes the restaurant messed up, but my friend as well:

Although the dish looked dubious, she took a bite.

Only when asked about dietary restrictions did she include pescatarian in her response.

OP is also right in shouting that she could have checked before eating. It does not mean the mistake was not a serious one but it does mean that she was not entirely helpless in the situation.

More Tact from OPs Comment

While I get the sentiment OP is coming from it would sound rude to say “you ate meat you deserve this”. A more productive would have been something like this: “I understand you’re angry, but since we both noticed the dish looked off, why don’t you think you’re just completely blaming the restaurant here? Now, perhaps this would have resulted in a more constructive discussion rather than a confrontation.

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And it isn’t wrong of OP to complain about the substandard assessment and actually, she is right that if this was food at all. But her phrasing may have seemed accusatory and not helpful. At one point, the friend acted understanding in person, but took to the Internet to amplify it.