One restaurant in Dallas is backtracking after being called out by the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the first day of the organization’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.
The owner of Ellen’s restaurant in Dallas didn’t mind taking money from NRA members in town attending the meeting. But, they did so with a caveat. Owner Joe Groves decided to display his displeasure with the NRA by adding a statement at the bottom of every check/receipt that were given to customers.
The NRA tweeted out a picture of the statement on a receipt:
Attn @AnnualMeetings attendees. Steer clear of Ellen’s in downtown Dallas! Why go there when there are so many other great choices. 🤔#sorrynotsorry #StandAndFight #DefendTheSecond pic.twitter.com/joX7pPoPm4
— NRA (@NRA) May 5, 2018
Groves and Ellen’s then received a storm of backlash for their political statement on a dining receipt. They received such a response that Groves — within hours of the NRA’s post — changed the statement on the bottom of his restaurant’s receipts so that he could salvage some business.
Here’s the new statement:
— Ellen's (@ItsBrunchOclock) May 5, 2018
In response, the NRA tweeted out both the Facebook statement from Ellen’s concerning the controversy, along with a previous post from Groves during the time his business was accepting reservations from NRA members to eat at his establishment.
Here’s the NRA’s tweet:
.@KirstenPowers Tell the 5M+ #NRA members again how media isn't biased. Do your research and look at the facts. On March 25, Ellen's (@ItsBrunchOclock) owner Joe posted that he wanted to take a stand and tell NRA members to... Well, read it for yourself. #CNN #media #NRAAM pic.twitter.com/8B1mq9LWiu
— NRA (@NRA) May 5, 2018
“Dilemma: taking lots of NRA money in the form of group reservations while they’re in Dallas,” Groves wrote, “or taking a stand and telling them all to f*** off.”
Doesn’t sound like the most tolerant of people, does he? Groves even said in the comments section of his post that “it’s just painful” to accept money from NRA members.
That’s a great business model.