The controversy began after a local father shared a Facebook post describing what he believed was discriminatory treatment toward his 19-year-old autistic son during a Mother’s Day visit to Q’ero Restaurant on South Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. According to the original post, the family felt they were being singled out because their son is autistic after restaurant staff allegedly questioned whether he might become loud during service.
The post quickly spread across Facebook before being reposted to Reddit’s r/sandiego community, where the discussion rapidly spiraled into dozens of comments, screenshots, Yelp reviews, and accusations targeting not only Q’ero, but also Scott Smith, the reported owner of nearby Encinitas eatery The 101 Diner.
However, Q’ero disputes the characterization that the family was denied service or discriminated against because of autism. In a statement provided to SanDiegoVille, the restaurant said the teenager was already “screaming” inside the restaurant when staff asked whether the behavior would continue once additional Mother’s Day guests arrived.
“While pouring them water, I asked if her son (who was screaming) would be as loud when other guests arrived,” the restaurant wrote. “[The mother] proceeded to look me in the eye, tell me he probably would be, threw the menu at me and told me to ‘fuck off’ multiple times. She then stormed out, leaving myself and my staff speechless.”
Q’ero further alleged that roughly ten minutes later, the teen’s father arrived outside the restaurant, where staff attempted to apologize and explain the interaction.
“I approached and said I apologize that I meant no offense in asking my question,” the statement continued. “I was doing a mental scan of how to accommodate the other guests who were due to arrive shortly.”
According to Q’ero, the father then also told staff to “fuck off” and allegedly threatened to stand outside and tell incoming customers how the restaurant treats disabled individuals.
“At NO point were the guests told they were unwelcome or would not be served,” the restaurant stated. “I wasn’t even given a chance to react.”
The restaurant also said the situation triggered a wave of hostile phone calls, threats of negative reviews, and social media backlash throughout the remainder of Mother’s Day.
“We pride ourselves in our hospitality at Q’ero, proudly serving the Encinitas community for 25 years,” the statement concluded.
As the original dispute spread online, attention increasingly shifted away from Q’ero itself and toward comments allegedly made by Smith in response to criticism circulating online.
Screenshots widely shared across Reddit, Facebook, Yelp, and Instagram appear to show Smith responding aggressively to reviewers and commenters discussing the controversy. One alleged Yelp response referred to a reviewer as an “SSRI-addled hobgoblin race grifter,” while another screenshot appears to show Smith arguing that if a child “can’t act appropriately in public,” parents should either ensure the child behaves or avoid taking them to restaurants.
Another screenshot circulating online appears to show Smith writing: “If he was using an outside voice he should sit outside. Pretty simple.”
SanDiegoVille has not independently verified the authenticity of the screenshots, though they have now been extensively discussed in the Reddit thread.
The online reaction has been deeply divided. Some commenters argued businesses retain the legal right to remove or refuse service to patrons whose behavior genuinely disrupts operations regardless of disability status.
“Businesses are within their rights under [the ADA] to remove patrons who fundamentally disrupt operations,” one Reddit user wrote.
Others countered that the issue centered less on actual disruption and more on assumptions about future behavior tied to autism.
“The child did not disrupt business, the owner just assumed he would,” another commenter wrote. “That is discrimination based on a disability.”
Several commenters also stressed that Q’ero and The 101 Diner are separate businesses and cautioned against directing backlash at the wrong restaurant.
“This post would have made a lot more sense if it was titled ‘beware of Diner 101 in Encinitas, the owner is an easily unglued lunatic,’” one Reddit user wrote, while others noted they had previously enjoyed positive experiences at Q’ero and did not believe the restaurant itself should be swept into the broader controversy.
The controversy has also revived scrutiny surrounding Smith’s prior public positions on homelessness and downtown Encinitas issues.
In October 2024, Smith purportedly submitted a letter to Encinitas city officials strongly supporting the removal of public benches in downtown Encinitas, arguing they had become gathering places for homeless individuals and people struggling with mental illness. In the letter, Smith alleged nearby businesses and customers were regularly exposed to trash, human waste, harassment, and requests for money near the restaurant corridor.
Separately, Smith publicly opposed the extension of Encinitas’ pandemic-era outdoor dining program in 2022, arguing that the loss of parking along Highway 101 negatively impacted daytime business traffic.
While some residents online defended Smith’s broader frustrations regarding disruptive public behavior and commercial district quality-of-life concerns, critics argued that some of the language and responses circulating online crossed a line from debating public conduct into rhetoric many perceived as hostile toward disabled individuals and their families.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses generally cannot discriminate against patrons based on disability status. However, businesses are also not legally required to tolerate conduct that creates a legitimate disruption to operations or materially interferes with other guests. ADA accommodation disputes frequently hinge on highly specific facts, context, and whether decisions were based on actual conduct versus assumptions about disability.
At this stage, the precise details of the original Mother’s Day interaction remain disputed. What is clear is that a brief confrontation inside an Encinitas restaurant rapidly evolved into a much larger internet firestorm involving allegations of discrimination, questions about public behavior standards, online review campaigns, disability accommodations, and the increasingly combustible intersection between social media outrage and small local businesses.
The 101 Diner is located at 552 South Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. Q’ero Restaurant is located nearby at 564 South Coast Highway 101.
Originally published on May 12, 2026.