An Oakland restaurant has been struggling to get customers to come back after bad reviews on Yelp. It’s not an issue of bad food, but rather because of an uptick in car break-ins over the past year.
One customer of NIDO’s BackYard, Onellia Santos, told NBC Bay Area her car had been broken into twice now, costing her some $500 in repairs.
It’s a story all too familiar to those who park near the Oak Street business.
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“Over the past year, it’s been horrible,” said Kayla Jemmott, the manager of the restaurant. “Break-ins would happen day, night, multiple times. We had people sometimes running out of the restaurant because their stuff is gone. We had people just dropping stuff off, saying, ‘I found this outside.’ “
Jemmott said clientele has dropped by around 30% and the restaurant is starting to get a bad rap online.
“We get actual reviews on Yelp of people saying, ‘I had a great time, but I’m not coming back because my car got broken into,’ “ said Jemmott.
That’s why the restaurant has invested in a guarded parking lot across the street, offering around 100 spots. They’re hoping customers can start to enjoy their dining experience again.
It could be an attractive offer for people looking for parking options around the Embarcadero. A crime map from the city shows that the area has seen four robberies, two auto thefts, and four assaults reported in the prior week.
Those stats concern new businesses there, like a brewery which is located just a half-mile from NIDO’s.
“There’s crime happening,” said Kelly Sciascia, co-founder of the Cellarmaker Brewery, “and it needs to be addressed in some way.”
