2 South Philadelphia eateries get heckled after declining Astros' catering request
"All of a sudden people with southern accents are trying to order pizza and saying nasty stuff."
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The internet lit up Tuesday with criticism and cheers after two South Philadelphia eateries reportedly refused to feed the rival Astros. Now, the restaurant owners are getting nasty phone calls from people with Houston area codes.
But that's not the full story.
"Shame on you Mike's BBQ. Shame on you," one caller said in a voicemail.
With a voicemail box full of messages like that one, Michael Strauss is laughing it off and tending to his barbecue pit.
He's catching a little flack from Astros fans after posting online that he wouldn't be serving the food they wanted.
"We're trying to be fun and humorous, but the world is fighting it," said Strauss.
Strauss wouldn't serve the food to the Houston players because he doesn't serve Latin food, which is what they asked for. He's an American barbecue guy.
"Saying, 'Haha the Astros texted me looking for Latin food, we're not gonna feed them. You know it's funny," he said.
But it quickly snowballed, with headlines like, 'Mikes BBQ and Angelo's refused to feed the Astros,' which is completely unfounded," said Strauss.
Angelo's Pizzeria on South 9th Street is dealing with the same thing.
"I'm not apologizing! But people are saying we left them starving and weak for the game. It wasn't like that at all!" said Danny DiGiampietro, owner of Angelo's Pizzeria.
When the Astros requested 10 pies for after the game, around 11:30 p.m, he said they couldn't make it happen. The shop closes at 7 p.m.
"'I say if you out think I'd cooked for the Astros you're crazy. We said no to them. That's it! Post the story I go about my day. All of a sudden people with southern accents are trying to order pizza and saying nasty stuff," said DiGiampietro.
Both shop owners say they cook for rival teams all the time like the Mets, the Steelers and others. It just didn't work out this go-around.
As for the nasty Yelp reviews, these business owners aren't reading them. The site has disabled reviews for the restaurants until the food fight dies down.
