Okay so 8 of my relatives came from overseas and I wanted to take them to eat some wood fire pizza at Lygon st in Melbourne. Because my relatives are all 50-70 years old, I let them rest in a park while I go up the street to look for a good restaurant. There I saw a restaurant called Villa Romana (might as well name and shame), and talked to the owner (im suspecting) who said they serve stone cooked pizzas. I asked if they would accept 10 people, and he said he will set up the table.
So I went to fetch my relatives and came to the restaurant; I talked to the waitress there who asked me if I wanted to sit inside and outside (which meant there were enough space available to accommodate us), then the owner came outside and asked me if we were only going to have pizzas and how much we were planning to order. I said 3 or 4 pizzas and then he told me he cannot serve us because they were 'too busy to have so many people ordering too little food'. Then he went on a rant about how previously he had 15 people come in and only order 2 pizzas. He was plainly rude and was going on and on about nothing infront of all the customers, embarassing us and making us feel like we have committed a crime…so we went up 3 shops up the street and spent $203 getting 4 pizzas, 1 chicken parmy with beers and orange juices. Not a whole lot by any amount but definitely not 2 pizzas. So is this legal? I still feel really angry about this
TLDR: rude owner refuses service to my relatives based on his previous experience with asian tourists who took up lots of space and only ordered 2 pizzas. (Rascial profiling?) Making me feel embarassed infront of my relatives and making my relatives feel embarassed infront of all the customers sitting out the front (everyone was staring because the owner was causing such a ruckus). My relatives are all old and DO NOT deserve to be treated like that.
Ps: I was a supervisor at an italian restaurant and I know that pizzas arent as profitable as other mains and even my boss used to not be fond of customers (mainly tourists) who orders the bare minimum because its not profitable and that tourists are not going to end up as regular customers..just one offs; however just because my relatives fit the description of typical asian tourists, doesnt mean we will order the same way. And we have never refused service to anyone because of it.
Whether it is right or not, its a business decision. Perfectly legal. Owner can refuse service to whoever he wants to. Not racial profiling as according to your story its more likely he felt you would take up too many spots for the small amount you would buy (I said 3 or 4 pizzas), perhaps then sit and talk all night long.
Nothing you can do but not go back there in future.