Pittsburgh Eatery Denies Vance Entrance, But Hosted Harris in August
JD Vance handled the situation well. Good for him.
Republican VP candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) once showed he’s the most presidential of the four candidates.
The Trump-Vance campaign planned a stop at the iconic Pittsburgh restaurant Primanti Bros.
Trump-Vance supporters filled the place, but once Vance showed up, the manager denied him entrance:
A source familiar with the campaign told Fox News Digital that when the vice presidential campaign stopped by Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, their planned visit to excited supporters was cut short when they were promptly kicked out by employees. The source noted that Primanti Bros. management was aware that the Trump-Vance campaign was planning on stopping by.
An employee told the campaign that this was “not a campaign stop” and that “JD’s not allowed in,” the source said, adding that the manager threatened to call the police if they didn’t leave.
Trump-Vance supporters shot back, booing the employees as they were ushered to the exit, the source said.
Vance handled it perfectly when greeting supporters in the parking lot:
We paid for everybody’s food, we gave them a nice tip. And of course when I gave him a nice tip I said no taxes on Tip Hold it against her she just got A little nervous Business let keep on supporting and most importantly November 5th or before Go vote lets go win this thing.
.@primantibros refused to let @JDVance in to their restaurant full of customers waiting to greet him. They all paid for their drinks, cancelled their food orders and left after hearing that VP candidate was not welcome. Here was his response #Trump2024Vance #RepublicanParty #GOP pic.twitter.com/JsggvQiuhu
— Anissa Zappala (@anissa_zappala) September 28, 2024
Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar released a lame statement, especially since, again…this event had to be planned.
Because two people tried to kill former President Donald Trump, I would hope security made arrangements before it happened.
Give me a break
— Primanti Bros (@primantibros) September 28, 2024
This is the same place that allowed VP Kamala Harris to stop by. The diners accused the campaign of staging the whole thing with hired actors:
Harris’ campaign made a stop at the Primanti Bros. location on Aug. 18 – much to the chagrin of locals, who were kicked out of the restaurant.
“I wanted to watch some sports and enjoy an afternoon lunch,” Mark Dodson previously told Fox News Digital. “Around 3:30, the bartender, she goes, ‘It’s last call’ – what do you mean last call?”
Employees informed the Pennsylvania native that the restaurant was closing early for a private event.
—-
Outside, kicked-out patrons and Trump supporters protested the event. Others verbally accused the campaign of employing “actors” – as video captured by ABC News of Harris’ visit itself depicted a full dining room with people enjoying their food.
“Holy hell, all these actors in these vans,” a man was heard shouting among the anti-Harris demonstrators.
Going to @primantibros in Pittsburgh is the cultural touchstone equivalent of getting a cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Problem for Primanti instead of welcoming to both sides they welcomed Kamala Harris here & not Vance
Cannot be understated the grace @JDVance handled this with https://t.co/yqISx6VWN4 pic.twitter.com/sBwKwtenuv— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) September 28, 2024
Remember, @primantibros kicked out their paying customers so Kamala could bring in a fake audience for a staged appearance. pic.twitter.com/jmftADKJk7
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 28, 2024
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Comments
I don’t care what JD Vance said, Primanti Bros are scumbags. No one should patronize any of their businesses. They are dirtbags of the worst sort.
They did NOT deserve any tips. Tips are for decent service, not d-bag service.
I placed an advance order at PB while visiting the area of one of their stores. When I showed up to pick it up, it wasn’t there. I asked the cashier and she said someone in my group already picked it up.
Then a man walked into the store and said he picked up the wrong order off the shelf, and the staff member handed him the correct order.
Then he called my name and tried to hand me the order that had been out of the restaurant for more than 10 minutes.
He got pissed when I refused that order and told them to make me another one.
Another reason not to go that slop shop.
Wow. Just … wow.
Taking sides is just bad business. You dont want to alienate half your customer base.
To be fair to the waitstaff, the report is that it was the management that didn’t want Vance there.
Why would anybody be surprised at that? If the management wanted them there, it’s unlikely they’d be bulled by Karens on the waitstaff.
I imagine the manager of that particular location is a leftist Harris supporter. I wouldn’t be surprised if the corporate office didn’t have a thing or two to say to her. They’ve got 46 locations, including two in Florida.
Well, if so we can await a statement from the chain, and those of us who might otherwise spend money there can reevaluate the situation accordingly.
I’m not boycotting it, only because I’ve never even heard of it before just now.
The statement they made said that Vance did later enter the restaurant. I’m not sure how they’re spinning it, but there is more to the story. (It could just be the perfidy of their statement, or that there are more facts.)
Conservatives should go to Primanti Bros, be seated, ask for water, and then sit there visiting. After being there 10-15 minutes, getup and leave.
This should go on for months. And a boycott is in order. This should bet the manager fired.
I would add that they’re owned by L Catterton, a GIANT private equity multinational which is itself a partnership between a US private equity firm and LVMH, which is one of the largest corporations on the planet that owns some of the most exclusive brands (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hennessy, Sephora). While I’m sure the CT-based L Catterton has plenty of Harris supporters in management, like you, I suspect this is exactly NOT the kind of PR they’re looking. And, neither company likely wants to make this kind of statement against a candidate who might be VP in a couple months and then perhaps president for 8-years after that. It will be interesting to see how L Catteron/LVMH responds publicly.
The restaurant kicked out real, paying customers so Harris could have a staged event of an “impromptu” campaign stop. I’m surprised they have any customers coming back.
They “kicked out real, paying customers” because someone booked the place for private event. The exact same thing would happen for ANYONE that booked a private event.
Wow. This will likely hurt all 46 locations. If nobody is held accountable, it is endorsement by management of what happened. This might be their Bud Lite moment.
What happened with the Harris-Walz event? They did it right. You even quoted it:
Let’s not wind readers up with rage-bait.
You completely miss the point, or pretend to. Our anger is not because they chose to close early to host a campaign event for Harris. It’s that they refused to do the same for Vance, thus showing that they are hostile to us and our cause.
Therefore if there are any Republicans who have been patronizing this establishment, or any other establishment in the same chain, they should take their custom elsewhere. I will not do so, because I have never even heard of this place, have never spent a dime there, and thus have no custom to remove.
Go woke, go broke.
Harris booked a private event. Vance did not. What point am I supposed to be missing?
Harris did not “book a private event”. She set up a campaign stop, as all politicians routinely do at stores and restaurants everywhere. In the case of candidates with Secret Service protection such visits are never spontaneous; they’re always set up in advance. It’s not normal to boot out existing customers, but the place cooperated to the extent of doing so, so that the Harris supporters bused in could fill the place. All very well and nice.
Vance didn’t ask anyone to leave. But when he showed up they told him to leave. It’s their property, and assuming the management made this decision they had the right to do so. But it means they’ve declared war on half the country and should bear the consequences.
Agreed. I came to say that I have no problem with the restaurant manager’s decision. I don’t LIKE it but – a restaurant should have the right to refuse service to anyone*
and the management to have any political leanings they choose.
The constitution swings both ways and I’m okay with that.
Of course I quietly hope that business falls way off, but that is because customers also have the right to refuse doing business with anyone* and the right to have any political leanings they choose.
* (right to refuse service to anyone outside the legally designated categories of race ,religion, national origin etc)
@Hodge .. If the restaurant was full of paying customers then the manager’s decision was idiotic
The best spin on this is that Harris booked and paid for a private event. Given that the restaurant was already full of people when Vance showed up I think it’s safe to assume from the reaction of the management that they cooperated with Harris at no charge
Yeesh, they’re not even the same restaurant! The one Harris reserved and the one Vance stopped by are 45 minutes apart.
That Primanti didn’t spontaneously decide to throw customers out when Harris showed up. For Harris the restaurant was reserved ahead of time for 4:00 pm. LegalInsurrection confirmed this with another quote:
Even McDonalds will allow you to reserve the place for a kid’s birthday party and will kick people out for it so there’s nothing strange or wrong here.
There’s nothing that says private events cannot be campaign stop. Campaign spokesman David Wessel has publicly stated it was a volunteer appreciation event.
Different inputs at different locations create different outputs. Now if Vance tried to reserve the same restaurant for a private event at a similar time of day and was denied then that would be a story.
All of them. Milhouse is 100% correct.
You are engaging in malicious misapprehension here. You appear to be a pro.
“Malicious misapprehension” is a new one. What is that supposed to mean?
Agree with the points made by Milhouse.
Add to the context the lefty wokiesta lack of respect for individual business to make decisions about service. Seems very much like they want to demand that some be forced to ‘bake the cake’ while their supporters should be allowed to refuse service and failing that for their supporters to go in and disrupt folks dining by ‘getting in their face, telling them they aren’t welcome’. Walz endorsed the spirit of this public confrontation nonsense with his idea to confront folks in grocery stores.
We are well past the stage of offering the benefit of the doubt to these sorts of confrontational tactics that seem to cut one way. Go woke go broke is the order of the day and the d/prog and everyone else who allowed the wokiestas to get a head start on it can pound sand with their whining that it is happening to them as well.
What you’re missing is that there are no ‘impromptu’ campaign stops.
Both Harris and Vance set up campaign stops.
But Harris reserved the place because she brought in fake customers who pretended to just have been there when she walked in.
Vance just set up a basic campaign stop when the candidate patronizes a business and interacts with the customers who are there.
And Primanti, after agreeing, wouldn’t let him in.
Yes, AFTER agreeing. If they had not agreed, there would have been no stop.
Because there are no impromptu campaign stops.
The local Republican chair described it as “unplanned” with the only warning being calling ahead to pre-order a sandwich for Vance.
Harris booked the other place ahead of time for a volunteer appreciation event.
It’s also the hypocrisy of trying to make it look like it was an organic thing. Which Harris (Biden, too) do with regularity.
True or not that is an issue with Harris not Vance or Primanti and therefore irrelevant.
“Let’s not wind readers up with rage-bait.”
Wow! That’s some bait right there!
Care to explain how that’s bait? The incidents were at different locations, different times of day, different days of the week, and a pre-arranged private event vs. an unplanned stop with little warning*.
You should patronize Primanti Bros, they are going to need it.
GrabbitOpey will have quite a few opportunities to spend money at PB. Plenty of seats will be available
Never heard of them before, but if I ever get the chance then I will just to demonstrate that conservatives aren’t easily mislead by outrage mongers.
While I regularly express some concern over raging to things that actually aren’t that bad, this isn’t actually “rage bait.” It’s expressing that a company (and locations 45 miles apart are often NOT that independent, if franchises) was more than willing to have one side of the fight come in and try to appear all grass-rootsy* and stuff, but didn’t want the other side to enjoy their hospitality in doing so.
Yes, the events are different. Yes, the locations are different. But when it comes down to it, he told the guy he would call police if he came in because it would be trespassing. That is not the action of someone handling this with grace or wisdom – nor “equity.”
(* Yes, the Harris campaign (just as Biden did) regularly cleans out the place and fills it with supporters, so as to appear as if they are mingling with “the regular folk” and that said “regular folk” all think they’re just the greatest. It’s the standard astroturfing from the left.)
When it comes down to it Harris gave multiple days warning by booking the place. Vance gave a couple hours notice by pre-ordering a sandwich. Subjecting the staff and ordinary customers to a presidential candidate and their security, staff, press, and other hangers-on with little warning is something you don’t do.
You think your fellow commenters here are actually unhinged and ready to fly into a rage over what you call “rage-bait”? I mean, really?
Good to know you have such a high opinion of us.
If you don’t know what something means then ask like I did above:
Is this an in kind contribution?
No. It was not something given to the Harris campaign. That is the definition of a contribution. Nothing here was contributed. Allowing Harris to visit your location isn’t anything given to her, let alone to her campaign.
It’s every property owner’s choice who is welcome on his property and who is not. Public accommodations are not allowed to exclude people on several grounds that are explicitly specified in the law; they retain the right to exclude people on any other grounds or on no grounds at all.
The public also has a right to boycott them, and to spread the word. It is gross stupidity for any business to alienate half of their customer base.
Strongly disagree. If the management cooperated with Harris by closing the venue then they made an in-kind contribution equal to the usual rental charge for the space.
No, they didn’t. A contribution is literally a thing given. If nothing was given then there was no contribution. And it has to be given to the campaign. Generally that means it has to be done at the campaign’s request.
You don’t understand “consideration” then, Milhouse. It doesn’t have to be tangible. And a free gift is considered “consideration.”
GWB, I think you don’t understand “consideration”. Consideration is something that is given in return for something else. It’s a synonym for “price”. There must be an exchange.
In any case the law is about contributions, so I don’t know why you’re even mentioning consideration. The law regulates contributions to campaigns. Unless you have actually given something to a campaign there is no contribution. Doing a service for a campaign at its request is a contribution. Doing something nice for a candidate is not.
Your proof that Primati did not charge for the private event?
I doubt any legal beagle (except maybe Jacobson’s crew) could make it stick. But I would definitely call denying service to one customer and providing it to another on the basis of their politics during an election, a “contribution.”
Now, the real question is, in practical terms, to whom is it a contribution?
I think the Trump campaign should declare it one – in their favor. 😉
The bigger point is Harris had the customers leave so she could load the place with supporters/actors to make it look like real Pennsylvania people were for her. Primanti Bros assisted in that fiction. Vance let it be known he was stopping by. Real folks showed up to catch a glimpse. No astroturfing here. FKH
I don’t see any grass-roots attractiveness of Vance. It’s another campaign event. = taking as important what is not important.
One cannot show the blind man what wont can’t see 😂
You should have stopped after “I don’t see.”
I wonder if they serve Bud Light at Primanti Bros? They sure seem to want to go down the Bud Light rathole! Michael Jordan was a business genius when he said he didn’t get into politics, because Republicans buy shoes, too. Maybe Primanti Bros needs to learn that lesson the hard way?
In 2020, the greater Pittsburg area voted 50.7% for Trump and 47.9% for Biden (per ChatGPT). Not sure why any business in such an evenly divided community would want to take sides when they don’t have to–particularly against the side that carried the area in 2020. I guess math is hard.
As many have said, don’t support companies and businesses that hate you.
Dems have gone out of their way to attract math is hard people.
There is nothing authentic about the Harris campaign what so ever.
They know they can’t win so what they have to do is show that they are popular enough for the merest hint there to be the possibility to win the election. Makes the steal a little easier to pull off.
Theodor Adorno gets points for the book title “The Jargon of Authenticity.”
Well, now I know where not to stop for lunch next time I’m traveling through PA. I’ll be sure to let all my friends know too.
Primanti Bros is a perfect place to stop, before going to another restaurant.
“hate has no home here”………sometimes.
“It’s not hate when we do it. Just when those other evil people who don’t agree with us [i.e.,people who are not Dems, socialists, or communists] do it.”
Some people call it hate when justice is dispensed, but their perception is wrong. It’s only justice.
Within the bounds of the 1st Amendment, Primanti’s has the right to support or not support politicians/parties as they wish. That same right extends to all customers who also have the right to support or not support Primanti’s based on public stands [and this is a public political stand] as they wish. If those prospective customers who do not support the Left and do support Trump choose never to darken the doors of all 46 [??} Primanti’s ever; such is their right. Further, all 46 of their outlets require supplies to operate. If suppliers decide for whatever reason that they cannot furnish such supplies, or that the current inflationary economy requires higher prices for such outlets, that becomes Primanti’s problems.
My father was a chef and owned his own restaurant. I spent a lot of time growing up working in the restaurant business. One basic lesson learned early was that the money from people you do not like spends just as well as money from people you do like.
Primanti’s can choose to make a political stand. But Leftists or not they are subject to consequences.
Subotai Bahadur
Note that these were two separate locations. Kamala went to the one in Moon Township. Vance went to the one in North Versailles. They’re about 45 minutes apart.
News is dead. Neither LI nor any of the linked articles say WHEN Vance stopped by. I had to estimate it by finding a Twitter post and figuring the time zone difference.
Vance stopped by about 1pm on a Saturday.
Harris’ private event was at 4pm on a Sunday.
If they were different locations then I withdraw what I wrote earlier; maybe the one that turned Vance away would have done the same to Harris, and maybe the one that welcomed Harris would have done the same to Vance. We don’t know, so we shouldn’t assume hostility without foundation.
Surely a sign of the end times when I am upvoting Millhouse so much.