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| Bacon at Neely's Barbecue Parlor |
By
James Mulcahy
Neely's Barbecue Parlor on the Upper East Side is in a war of words with conservative radio host and author Glenn Beck. The commentator was in NYC recently with his daughter, and he went to he 'cue joint. Apparently, he did not feel welcome when he walked in the door. His quote: "I have to tell you, the look that I was given by those in charge at this restaurant was, how dare you even come in here. It was quite amazing. I said to my wife as we were walking up the stairs, I said, this isn’t going to go well. And she said, no, this was really a mistake. This is a minority‑owned shop. Was that the line that I dared to cross? No? No, it couldn’t be because there were white people in there. So it must be something else besides my character. It’s amazing to me. One would think that ‑‑ you wouldn’t want to shun people that might have diverse opinions." Check out the
full transcript here.
Today, the folks at the restaurant issued a response to his accusation, saying "We are confident that he received the professional and friendly service we give to all our guests. NYC is the epicenter of the Great American Melting Pot, and we welcome all guests who are ready to enjoy a satisfying meal and great service." The restaurant even got the hostess who seated him to go on record, saying "I have worked in the hospitality and customer service industry for over six years and pride myself on treating every customer equally, doing anything and everything I can for them, while ensuring that they feel welcome." They say more on their
Facebook page.
Yikes - not sure what happened here, but we'll see if the host responds to the restaurant's statement, or if this war of words peters out with a little time.
I don't know much about Glen Beck, but I've been to the Neely's restaurant a number of times and I'm white. If Mr. Beck were to dig a little deeper he'd find that the exec chef is white and some of the owners/investors are white too. I'm only saying this because the restaurant doesn't have any sort of bias or agenda. Dumb.
ReplyDeleteThat's his point. I wasn't because he was white. It was because he's a conservative.
ReplyDeleteNew York for being a "melting pot" is surprisingly intolerant of views other than their liberal thinking. Please note that there is a great deal of county between the east coast and the west coast and most of us tend towards being conservative. We may enjoy your nightlife and culture but there is a real reason that people really don't like new yorkers. When Mr. Beck spoke of his treatment at a restaurant he did not mention Neely's and isn't it telling that that was the name to hit the blogs.
ReplyDeleteWOW @glasslass you must be really dumb, not to know who he was talking about? Oh the famous couple with the BBQ place in NYC! Hmmmm! ;lemme think, that narrows it down to ONE! Sounds like you are the one discriminating against east and west coasters. We are part of America just as much as you.
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