"You have to learn to speak like a politician when you are speaking to people," said Sean Brock, a well-respected Southern chef who grew up in southwest Virginia and has restaurants in Charleston, S.C., and Nashville. "Twenty or 30 years ago you were just a guy who made eggs Benedict." The dilemma he and many others in the restaurant business are facing is whether or not to allow concealed weapons in their establishments, Kim Severson reports for The New York Times.
How restaurants deal with highly politicized issues can really affect business, and for many years they have created informal public policy through their dealings with certain social issues. "It's almost like restaurants have to have a political strategist on board now when they put together their marketing plan," Andrew Freeman, a San Francisco-based consultant to the restaurant and hotel industry, told Severson.
"It's more than just cooking food," said David McMillan, an owner of the coastal restaurant Drunken Jack's in Murrells Inlet, S.C. "We have to be allergen experts and nutritional experts and now Second Amendment experts."
In February, South Carolina became of the states that allowed people with permits to bring concealed guns into restaurants in bars—unless they planned to drink alcohol or unless the restaurant chose to post a sign banning guns. Clemson restaruant owner Pete Matsko posted a sarcastic sign and had to deal with considerable backlash. "On some night you have college kids wall to wall in here drinking," he told Severson. "You don't want a gun in here."
Others haven't quite decided how to proceed. "It's a bit strange to me that you think you need to carry a gun when you're having a cheeseburger," Brock said. Even though he grew up with guns in Wise County, Virginia, he doesn't want them in his restaurant. He still isn't sure if he will put up the signs. "The pressure to make the right move is intense," he told Severson. "When you start to become this stage for rights, you have to be so careful."
Gun-Free Dining Tennessee, which began after the state allowed concealed weapons in bars and restaurants in 2009, publishes a list of restaurants that do and don't enforce gun control. Ray Friedman, who began the list, asked Brock to post the sign or deal with pickets. "I sympathize with the restaurant owners because they didn't choose to be in the middle of this," Friedman told the Times, "but this is where it is playing out." (Read more)
How restaurants deal with highly politicized issues can really affect business, and for many years they have created informal public policy through their dealings with certain social issues. "It's almost like restaurants have to have a political strategist on board now when they put together their marketing plan," Andrew Freeman, a San Francisco-based consultant to the restaurant and hotel industry, told Severson.
"It's more than just cooking food," said David McMillan, an owner of the coastal restaurant Drunken Jack's in Murrells Inlet, S.C. "We have to be allergen experts and nutritional experts and now Second Amendment experts."
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| Pete Matsko, second from right, at his bar (Photo by Mike Belleme for The New York Times) |
Others haven't quite decided how to proceed. "It's a bit strange to me that you think you need to carry a gun when you're having a cheeseburger," Brock said. Even though he grew up with guns in Wise County, Virginia, he doesn't want them in his restaurant. He still isn't sure if he will put up the signs. "The pressure to make the right move is intense," he told Severson. "When you start to become this stage for rights, you have to be so careful."
Gun-Free Dining Tennessee, which began after the state allowed concealed weapons in bars and restaurants in 2009, publishes a list of restaurants that do and don't enforce gun control. Ray Friedman, who began the list, asked Brock to post the sign or deal with pickets. "I sympathize with the restaurant owners because they didn't choose to be in the middle of this," Friedman told the Times, "but this is where it is playing out." (Read more)
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