The owners of a Mexican restaurant in Belleville say they feel they’ve have been scammed by an organization that is supposed to be giving out restaurant awards.
In a letter to Quinte News, Abraham Ramos says he and his sister were thrilled to see they had been nominated by “The Food Awards Ontario” and had sent the organization $1,700 to cover the cost of gala tickets for their staff, along with a list of reasons why they felt their restaurant deserved to win.
Ramos says organizers cancelled the gala a week before, haven’t returned the money, or phone calls, social media messages or emails.
He says they’ve notified authorities and wanted to get the word out to other local businesses.
The same group did award two other local restaurants with accolades recently, but there have been no other reports of them ending up in a similar situation.
The company behind the awards, Creative Oceanic, is based in Scotland and has been criticized in the media there for its business model and nomination process.
