Harvard professor sorry for fighting restaurant over $4

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Harvard Business School associate professor Ben Edelman was in the running this week for “Most Disliked Guy on the Internet” — and all because of $4.

After accusing a restaurant of overcharging him, Edelman began an epic back and forth with the management that went viral. Now, the professor is apologizing for letting the dispute spiral so out of control.

According to Boston.com, the saga began last week when Edelman placed an order at a family-operated Boston-area Chinese restaurant named Sichuan Garden. He was hungry for sauteed prawns with roasted chili and peanut, stir-fried chicken with spicy capsicum, braised fish filets and napa cabbage with roasted chili, and shredded chicken with spicy garlic sauce.

When he placed his order, Edelman thought his meal would run him $53.35. But when he checked his receipt, he noticed he’d been charged an additional $4 — or, as he noted in the first of several emails he sent to Sichuan Garden, an apparent “increase of $1 on each and every item.”

Celebrated bartender Ran Duan, who manages the bar inside his parents’ Sichuan Garden location, was the one to respond to Edelman’s complaint. In doing so, he kicked off an epic three-day email exchange that ended with Edelman, who is also a lawyer and fashions himself as a “Web sheriff,” considering legal action against the restaurant.

It turns out that the menu Edelman viewed on Sichuan Garden’s website was out of date, which Duan apologized for and said he would fix…