It appears that people were sharpening their knives for Zachary Quinto’s roasting, long before news broke this weekend that the “Star Trek” actor had been banned from a Toronto restaurant for allegedly berating staff and storming off when his weekend brunch plans were disrupted.
People certainly couldn’t wait to pounce on Quinto for being “a terrible customer” at Manita, a Toronto-based Mediterranean-style restaurant. Soon after Manita accused Quinto of yelling at staffers “like an entitled child” in a June 2 Instagram Story post, the actor’s own Instagram account was filled with angry comments and demands that he apologize.
It’s almost as if Quito’s alleged bad behavior at Manita confirmed some yet-to-surface rumor that the actor, best known for playing the unemotional but reasonable and logical Mr. Spock, is really a difficult person to work with or to be around.
“The way someone treats staff (at restaurants) and others is usually a great way to see someone’s true character. Apparently yours is pretty crappy!” one person wrote to Quinto on a post he shared last week that showed a video of him playing banjo. This person’s comment, calling Quinto “crappy,” received nearly 1,000 likes.
Quinto’s visit to Manita apparently happened the same weekend that he was celebrating his 47th birthday in Toronto, where he is filming “Brilliant Minds,” a new NBC medical drama, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Whatever was going on with Quinto at Manita, the sheer number of angry comments directed at him on Instagram was pretty staggering. One of those angry comments even came from the Ontario Small Business Community, which asked, “Could you kindly apologize to the local and independent restaurants you terrorized this weekend?”
The business association said there was “no reason to be mean, rude and well awful to local Toronto Ontario small and independent businesses … (or to) their hardworking staff.” The association also told Quinto he had no excuse to treat local restaurant employees in the way he did, even if he was “hangry.”
“That’s your problem,” the business association said. “So an apology please, would really go a long way to smoothing over this unfortunate and distasteful situation. Thanks and welcome to Ontario Canada. We like and respect our small businesses here. You should try it sometime, it feels wonderful.”
The brouhaha over Quinto’s alleged “mean brunch behavior,” as Vulture referred to it, was touched off by Manita sharing an Instagram Story post Sunday that said that that the actor is “an amazing Spock,” but a “terrible customer.”
According to Manita, Quinto did not respond to “two texts to inform him his table was ready” and then “refused to believe the empty tables in the dining room weren’t available for him despite being politely informed they were spoken for,” Vulture reported. From there, he was apparently mean enough that the host of the restaurant cried.
“Take your bad vibes elsewhere,” the Instagram Story post said, the Los Angeles Times also reported. “We have many lovely celebrities join us at Manita but you are NOT one of them.”
That initial post aged out, but Manita reshared it on its grid, writing in the caption, “We aren’t above criticism, but we are above being demeaned… Manita is deeply grateful for our mostly incredible, friendly, gracious guests.”
Quinto and his representatives did not respond to media requests for comment, the Los Angeles Times said. In an email, Manita co-owner Ian McGrenaghan said that Quinto wouldn’t be welcomed back to the restaurant unless he formally apologized.
On Quinto’s Instagram, others also made the point that a person’s “true character” can be assessed by how they treat servers at restaurants. “So disappointing,” one person said.
Another person, who indicated that he was a fan of Quinto’s, got pretty emotional about the actor’s alleged bad behavior. This person also said he had worked in retail “for years” and dealt with plenty of “abuse” from “rich people.”
“You actually did that to someone! It’s a (expletive) meal, and you made a person cry… over a meal,” the person said. “How you treat service workers is who you are as a person. You’re rich, you’re famous but you will NEVER have the right to speak to a person like that, let alone in their work place.”
“I won’t watch another thing you are in, interview you are in,” the person continued. “I don’t care. I am so upset to hear that you did this, I really admired and liked you. Now I want nothing to do with you.”
Celebrities being rude and acting prima donnas toward restaurant personnel isn’t anything new, the Los Angeles Times noted. In 2020, TikTok creator Julia Carolan commented on Kylie Jenner’s cold demeanor toward staff at a high-end Manhattan restaurant, while Hailey Bieber apologized publicly after Carolan said she was “not nice” to waiters.
In 2022, James Corden was temporarily banned from Balthazar, a high-end eatery in New York City, until he “apologized profusely,” after the owner, Keith McNally, called him “a tiny Cretin of a man” and accused him of being the “most abusive customer” in his restaurant’s 25-year history.
With regard to Quinto, people praised Manita’s owners for sticking up for their employees. “Finally, a company standing up for their staff,” one person wrote on Manita’s Instagram post about Quinto. ” This happened to me at my previous workplace and instead of sticking up for me, they let me go to avoid ‘bad press.’”
“Kudos for standing up for your staff publicly and calling out infantile and unacceptable behaviour,” another person wrote. “No one is above having/showing manners and respect for others… no matter ones fame or fortune.”
