Aliyah P.
Yelp
*To your response, Angela- Bedell Cellars will you address your employee whistling at us to stop taking pictures instead of just approaching us and telling us you were closed? Did we leave the property with the glasses? Or were we standing next to a picnic table with our glasses, finishing our wine? My friend put her drink down on that table to take her phone out when it was snatched from her. She said she was not finished and your employee refused to give it back to her. Furthermore, your employee was wearing their mask under the nose, which makes absolutely no sense. We were practicing social distancing while taking pictures and were whistled at and rushed off the property. And by the way, your statement SCREAMS "if you complied with the rules, you would have been treated better" AND "I have diverse friends therefore I'm not racist." No one ever approached the other group until after we mentioned they were still there and your employee told us "they aren't drinking, just waiting for their ride," which, as you mentioned, was not the case because they were in fact drinking wine. We were also told "worry about yourselves...that's not your issue," which is exactly the sentiment people who are marginalized in this country have dealt with all of our lives. So, if you're proposing a toast to institutionalized racism and discrimination, I politely decline
I came here and for the most part enjoyed myself, until I was met with racist and bigoted practices, which singled out myself and my friends and made us feel extremely uncomfortable. My friend's wine was snatched from her as we were walking out and she was trying to finish her drink and although we asked management for assistance, they told us to get off their property after whistling at us while we were taking pictures. There was another group sitting enjoying their drinks as we were being rushed off the premises because it was past operating hours. We were notified that they were closing 10 minutes before. I felt embarrassed, humiliated, and traumatized. In the current climate, it is my personal belief that businesses should practice more tolerant and inclusive practices and after my experience today, I cannot recommend this establishment to any person of color. In the same breath, I think I may be doing them a favor as I don't believe that they desire BIPOC as customers. To make matters worse, they have deleted my comment on their Instagram account and have blocked me without reaching out to address the situation.