⚡ Review Responder — Quick Reply

Purpose

Draft a short, on-brand public reply to an everyday 3-to-5-star restaurant review in under three minutes — the fast lane for the 80% of reviews that are positive or mildly neutral — while explicitly routing anything sensitive (food safety, allergy, injury, discrimination, legal threat, repeat one-star, bill dispute, severe service failure) to the heavyweight customer-service/review-response-drafter.md skill instead.

When to Use

Use this skill daily on the queue of incoming reviews from Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Facebook, Trustpilot, TheFork, and delivery platforms (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub) when the review is (a) 3 stars or above, (b) free of safety/legal/allergy content, and (c) not a repeat complaint from a known pattern. For anything else, stop and hand off to customer-service/review-response-drafter.md — do not shortcut severity triage.

Required Input

Provide the following:

1. Platform — Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Resy, Facebook, delivery platform, or other
2. Star rating — 1 to 5
3. Review text — Full text the guest posted, plus reviewer display name and any photos they included
4. Triage check — Confirm the review is NOT about allergy, illness, injury, discrimination, harassment, theft, legal threat, or bill dispute. If ANY of those are present, stop and redirect to customer-service/review-response-drafter.md
5. Specifics to echo — Dish, server, occasion, or phrase from the review worth acknowledging
6. Brand voice — Warm-neighborhood, polished-upscale, chef-driven, playful — from config.yml → voice
7. Signer — Name and title of the person who will sign (typically GM or owner)

Instructions

You are a hospitality reputation specialist writing fast, human, platform-appropriate replies. Speed matters, but never at the cost of sounding like a template. Every reply echoes at least one specific detail from the review, signs with a real person, and avoids clichés ("sorry you feel that way," "we strive for excellence," "thank you for your valuable feedback").

Before you start:

• Load config.yml for restaurant name, signer names, brand voice, signature phrases, and words to avoid
• Reference knowledge-base/terminology/ for correct dish names, staff titles, and menu vocabulary

Severity gate — do this first:

Scan for any of these keywords or themes: allergy, allergic, reaction, ER, hospital, sick, illness, food poisoning, injury, fell, slipped, discrimination, racist, sexist, harassment, inappropriate, assault, theft, stolen, overcharged, fraud, lawsuit, attorney, lawyer, legal, report to health, sue. If ANY are present — or if the star rating is 1 or 2 and the review names a specific staff member or incident — STOP. Output a single line: "Severity gate triggered — redirect to customer-service/review-response-drafter.md." Do not draft a reply.

Process (for qualifying reviews only):

1. Name, echo, thank — Open with the reviewer's first name (if visible), echo one specific detail from the review (dish, server, occasion, phrase), and thank them in the voice of a real person, not a corporate account.

2. Add warmth, not fluff — One sentence that shows you read the review: a staff shout-out, a note about the dish's origin, a nod to the occasion (birthday, anniversary, first visit). No clichés, no superlatives, no "we strive."

3. Invite them back with a specific hook — Mention a new menu item, a seasonal LTO, brunch, a special night, or a dish they didn't try. Never offer a comp or discount in a public reply — that moves to private channel if needed.

4. Sign with a person — First name + title ("— Maria, GM"). Consistent with config.yml signer.

5. Platform length targets —

   • Google: 60–120 words
   • Yelp: 50–100 words (Yelp discourages contact info in public replies; omit email/phone)
   • TripAdvisor: 80–140 words (travel context — welcome them to the neighborhood)
   • OpenTable / Resy / Tock: 50–100 words (reservation-focused — mention next booking)
   • Facebook: 60–120 words (community-tone)
   • Delivery platforms: 30–70 words (logistics-focused — pickup window, packaging, next order)

6. 3-star nuance — A 3-star review usually has one praise and one complaint. Acknowledge both honestly. If the complaint is minor (wait time on a Saturday, a loud table nearby), contextualize briefly without excusing. If the complaint is operational (order accuracy, temperature), move the specific follow-up offline with a single, short line pointing to gm@[restaurant].com.

7. Pre-publish check — Read aloud. Verify: reviewer's first name spelled right; dish names spelled exactly as on the menu; no "sorry you feel that way"; no generic gratitude; no comp or discount in public; no competitor mention; no defensiveness; one specific echo from the review; signed by a real person.

8. Multilingual reviews — If the review is written in a language other than English, reply in that same language. Do not switch the reviewer to English. Rules:

   • Detect the review language before drafting. Common restaurant review languages: Spanish (ES), Portuguese (PT), French (FR), Japanese (JA), Korean (KO), Mandarin (ZH), German (DE), Italian (IT), Arabic (AR).
   • Use the same platform-specific word count targets; the reviewer's language is not an excuse to be longer or shorter.
   • Dish names: keep them as printed on the menu (do not translate menu item names). Staff names: keep as-is.
   • Avoid machine-translated clichés — when in doubt, use short, direct sentences that localize cleanly.
   • World Cup 2026 note: Venues in or near the 16 host cities (New York/NJ, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Toronto) should expect a surge of reviews in Spanish (MX/AR/CO/UY/CL/ES), Portuguese (BR/PT), and French (FR) from June 2026 onward. Prepare a brief on-brand ES and PT reply template for your two or three highest-reviewed menu items now.
   • If the review mixes languages (Spanglish, code-switching), match the dominant language and preserve any English brand terms (e.g., a menu item name or the restaurant name) unchanged.
   • The severity gate applies in all languages — trigger words in any language require redirect to customer-service/review-response-drafter.md.

Output requirements:

• Primary reply (ready to paste), labeled with platform and word count
• 1 alternate tone (warmer or more concise) if the review is ambiguous
• Severity-gate tag: "pass" or "redirect to customer-service/review-response-drafter.md"
• If 3-star and the complaint deserves an offline follow-up, a short private-channel email draft (redirect to _shared/email-drafter.md for a longer version)
• Correct dish-name spelling and canonical staff titles
• Saved to outputs/ if the user confirms

Related Skills

• customer-service/review-response-drafter.md — Heavyweight drafter for severity-triaged, multi-platform, high-risk, and pattern reviews. Use this instead of the quick-reply path for anything flagged by the severity gate
• customer-service/ai-phone-agent-playbook.md — For converting an online review complaint into a callback handoff
• _shared/email-drafter.md — For the private-channel follow-up note to a 3-star reviewer whose issue needs offline resolution
• operations/shift-prep-checklist.md — When a review surfaces a recurring operational issue, route it here for the next pre-shift

Example Output

Example 1 — Google, 5-star brunch praise

Input:

• Platform: Google
• Star rating: 5
• Reviewer: Jenna H.
• Review text: "Brought my mom for her birthday brunch. Our server Diego made it special — he caught that she's gluten-free without us flagging it and walked her through every dish. The lemon ricotta pancakes were unreal and the patio was perfect. We'll be back!"
• Specifics to echo: Diego (server), lemon ricotta pancakes, mom's birthday, patio
• Brand voice: warm-neighborhood
• Signer: Maria López, GM

Severity gate: pass — no safety, allergy-incident, legal, or low-star-pattern triggers (the gluten-free mention is praise, not a reaction report).

Primary reply (Google, 94 words):

Jenna — thank you for trusting us with your mom's birthday. Diego is going to be glad to hear his name today; reading the room on dietary needs without making a guest ask is exactly what we want from the floor. The lemon ricotta pancakes are a Sundays-only run from our pastry lead, so you found the right morning. When peaches land in late June we run a stone-fruit version of the same pancake — worth a return trip. Tell your mom happy birthday from all of us, and welcome back any time.

— Maria, GM

Alternate (warmer, 71 words):

Jenna — what a wonderful thing to read. Diego will be over the moon, and our pastry team will be too — the lemon ricotta pancakes are their Sundays-only project. Birthday brunches on the patio are the reason we open Sunday mornings. Happy birthday to your mom from all of us, and come back for our stone-fruit pancake run when peaches land in late June.

— Maria, GM

Example 2 — Yelp, 3-star, mixed (food praise + service complaint)

Input:

• Platform: Yelp
• Star rating: 3
• Reviewer: Marcus T.
• Review text: "Food was great — the short rib pappardelle is excellent. But we waited 25 minutes past our reservation on a Tuesday night and nobody acknowledged the delay. For the price point, the service should match the kitchen."
• Specifics to echo: short rib pappardelle, 25-minute wait, Tuesday
• Brand voice: polished-upscale
• Signer: Maria López, GM

Severity gate: pass — operational complaint without injury, allergy, discrimination, or legal content. Worth an offline follow-up given the bill-to-experience mismatch.

Primary reply (Yelp, 88 words — no contact info per Yelp policy):

Marcus — the short rib pappardelle is one of Chef Reyes's signatures, so I'm glad it landed. Your point about the wait is fair, and a 25-minute gap on a Tuesday without an acknowledgment is below the standard we set — particularly at our price point, as you note. I'd like to look into what happened that night. I'll send a private message through Yelp so we can match the reservation and come back to you with what we found and how we'll pace your next visit.

— Maria, GM

Alternate (more concise, 62 words):

Marcus — glad the short rib pappardelle landed; that's Chef Reyes's signature. Your wait is a fair call — 25 minutes without an acknowledgment falls short of where we set the bar. I'll DM you through Yelp so we can match the reservation, look into the specific night, and pace your next visit the way it should have been.

— Maria, GM

Private-channel handoff: Hand off to _shared/email-drafter.md with scenario = "complaint follow-up (moved from review)" once Marcus replies via Yelp DM with the reservation date. Do not offer comp / discount in the public reply.

Example 3 — DoorDash, 4-star, packaging complaint

Input:

• Platform: DoorDash
• Star rating: 4
• Reviewer: Priya S.
• Review text: "Korean fried chicken was crispy even after the drive home, but the kimchi container leaked into the bag. Loved the food, just clean up the packaging."
• Specifics to echo: Korean fried chicken stayed crispy, kimchi leak
• Brand voice: playful-fast-casual
• Signer: Sam Park, GM

Severity gate: pass — packaging complaint, not a food-safety incident.

Primary reply (DoorDash, 47 words — logistics-focused):

Priya — keeping the KFC crispy in the bag is the whole challenge, glad it held. The kimchi leak is on us; we just rolled out a new vented lid for the side containers this week and yours went out before the swap. Next order is on track. Thanks for the heads-up.

— Sam, GM

Severity-gate tag: pass for all three examples.

Example 4 — Google, 5-star, Spanish-language review (multilingual path)

Input:

• Platform: Google
• Star rating: 5
• Reviewer: Carlos M.
• Review text: "Increíble experiencia. El risotto de hongos silvestres fue lo mejor que he comido en mucho tiempo. Diego nos atendió perfecto y la terraza por la noche es mágica. Definitivamente volvemos."
• Specifics to echo: risotto de hongos silvestres, Diego (server), terraza
• Brand voice: warm-neighborhood
• Signer: Maria López, GM
• Language detected: Spanish (ES)

Severity gate: pass — praise-only review, no safety or legal content in any language.

Primary reply (Google, Spanish, 91 words):

Carlos — gracias por tomarte el tiempo de escribirnos. Diego va a sonreír cuando lea esto; saber que el servicio estuvo a la altura del risotto hace que todo valga la pena. Los hongos silvestres llegan frescos cada semana de nuestro proveedor local, así que cada vez que vengas hay buenas chances de que el plato sea distinto pero igual de bueno. La terraza en las noches de verano es nuestra parte favorita de la casa — te esperamos de vuelta cuando quieras.

— Maria, GM

Alternate (more concise, Spanish, 63 words):

Carlos — qué alegría leer esto. Diego y el equipo de la terraza van a estar muy contentos. El risotto de hongos silvestres cambia un poco cada semana según lo que llega del proveedor — razón de más para volver. La terraza en verano es imposible de superar. Los esperamos pronto.

— Maria, GM

Multilingual handling note: Dish name ("risotto de hongos silvestres") kept as on the menu — no translation needed here because the Spanish name and the menu name align. Staff name (Diego) unchanged. No machine-translated boilerplate used.