A popular restaurant chain mostly centered in Pennsylvania has faced immense backlash from conservatives after it refused to serve JD Vance during a campaign stop. However, the venue was more than willing to accommodate Vice President Kamala Harris. Primanti Bros., an iconic diner in the Pittsburgh area, and its parent company, Authentic Restaurant Brands, have faced calls for boycotts after snubbing Vance.
Following the recent events, Primanti Bros. has become a hot political topic on social media, with conservative users voicing their frustration with the restaurant, many vowing to never dine there again. One user recently posted a map of all the restaurant locations, primarily based in Pennsylvania, while describing the ensuing controversy.
“Here’s a look at the locations of the Primanti Bros restaurants. They are headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The chain is receiving huge blowback for barring Trump VP nominee JD Vance yesterday at its North Versailles location just outside of Pittsburgh. The vast majority of Primanti venues are in the state of PA,” conservative commentator Paul Villareal wrote on X.
Another person applauded the conservative backlash the restaurant has faced for its hostility toward JD Vance. “Good. Their apology was apparently BS. They staged a love fest for Kamala and told management to bar Vance from the restaurant. Don’t frequent businesses that hate you,” they wrote in the comments section.
“Well that sucks. I just found out about Primanti a month ago when I was exploring the possibility of taking a mini-vacation to Pittsburgh next summer. It sounded fun, something unique with local character. I was kinda looking forward to trying it,” another person similarly wrote. “Evidently we have 2 in Michigan, I did not know that, but now on my list of places not to go eat. Besides we haves 100s of non chain, community focused restaurants to patronize,” another user added.
“I’ve been 1000 times. It’s not great. Ppl just go bc it’s a cultural icon in Pittsburgh. In July, I was on my way out of the restaurant when a woman from Florida who was on her way in told me that she was a tourist and asked me if the place was good and what I would recommend. I was pretty honest that it’s just adequate and that service is usually comically bad. I recommended a couple of items that ppl I know like bc there was really nothing that I like to recommend,” one person said, offering their personal experience with Primanti Bros.
After the controversy began unfolding, Primanti Bros. released a statement on the matter. “Primanti’s prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years,” the statement read.
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The statement continued, “Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff. However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property.” The regional diner added, “Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the secret service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, but we are glad that it was resolved quickly.”
Watch an epic moment from Vance during the vice presidential debate below:
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – J. D. Vance, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149633340