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After the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, eliminating the basic right to abortion, comedian Samantha Bee offered a plan to target conservatives on the court who make up the majority opinion: “We need to raise hell — in our cities, in Washington, in every restaurant where Justice Alito eats for the rest of of his life,” she implored viewers of her late-night show, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” “Because if the Republicans made our lives hell, it’s time to pay them back.”
Some abortion rights activists seem to be taking a page out of that book — even though the first judge to have his dinner publicly interrupted wasn’t Samuel A. Alito Jr., but Justice Brett M. Cavanaugh, who left Morton’s the Steakhouse in Washington on W Thursday night through a back entrance to avoid the crowd gathered out front, according to Politico.
In a city that regularly draws activists with signs from across the country, Washington restaurants — and even those far outside the Beltway — have long struggled with protests, some even centered on individual diners. But many are bracing for more such incidents as protesters are angered by Rowe decision – and aided by the rapid organizing of social media – look to confront conservative justices in their homes and in the restaurants where they dine.
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“The idea that business — any business — is somehow immune to what’s going on politically in the country has always seemed ludicrous to me,” emailed Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Va., a Democratic stronghold in the center of Trump country. Four years ago, Wilkinson had her own encounter with a polarizing public figure when Sarah Sanders, then President Donald Trump’s press secretary, dined with her husband and others at the Red Hen. Wilkinson politely asked Sanders to leave, an ouster that made the owner a hero among liberals and a villain among conservatives.
“When it comes to terrible events that will affect millions, no one should expect the restaurant to exist in some magical bubble,” Wilkinson wrote Friday from England, where her husband runs a study abroad program.
“Anyone who works or manages a restaurant knows that many Americans are scared and angry about recent events and feel compelled to stand up and shout about it in the streets,” Wilkinson continued. “If this street happens to be the sidewalk outside your restaurant where one of the architects of the coming wave of disenfranchisement is dining, well, what can I tell you? It’s still America and the right to assemble and the right to speak still exist.
A scenario similar to the one at Morton’s played out in 2018 (coincidentally, during Kavanaugh’s nomination hearings) when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and his wife, Heidi, took a side exit at the elegant restaurant Fiola in downtown to run away from protesters chanting “We believe the survivors,” a reference to Christine Blazey Ford, who testified that Cavanaugh sexually assaulted her.
Then-Homeland Security chief Kirsten Nielsen was attacked in 2018 at the upscale Mexican restaurant MXDC Cocina Mexicana over family separations at the border. Days earlier, a fellow diner at Shaw’s Espita Mezcaleria reportedly yelled at White House aide Stephen Miller, calling him a fascist.
The consequences of such public displays can be severe for restaurants. After the Cruz story broke, Fiola’s social media accounts were attacked, her phone lines were cut, and people posted one-star reviews on her Yelp page. Owners Fabio and Maria Trabocchi said they and their staff were threatened, both for not protecting the Cruzes and for tipping off the couple’s reservation to protesters. MXDC’s Yelp page was also flooded after Nielsen’s visit, with people leaving politically motivated reviews, which the online service deleted.
The fallout for the Red Hen, a 26-seat restaurant, was perhaps the worst: its phone line was hacked, its Yelp page flooded with negative reviews, its owner and staff lied to and threatened, its reservation system overwhelmed with reservations, which the diners had no intention of honoring.
“The effects can last for years,” Wilkinson acknowledged in an email. “We still feel it, a little over four years later. But here’s the thing: Fallout falls on both sides. Yes, we still have to put up with people sending us nasty letters and leaving bad reviews on Yelp. At the same time, we still welcome guests who tell us that they have been waiting years for the opportunity to come to our restaurant and eat with us. … And in many ways the support we got after the event four years ago is what got us through the latest challenges of covid, inflation, etc.”
Morton’s was already being mocked online Friday for its response to anti-Cavanaugh protesters. The steakhouse released a statement to Politico condemning the protesters. “The Honorable Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh and all of our other restaurant patrons were unlawfully harassed by unruly protesters while dining at our Morton’s restaurant,” the statement said. “Politicians, regardless of your party or views, should not trample on the freedom of the game of the right to gather and dine.”
Many commentators seized on the restaurant’s claims of diner “rights,” with some jokingly pointing out that the Constitution made no mention of diners or Morton’s, apparently mocking conservative originalists. Some noted that the Supreme Court had upheld the right to sidewalk protests, including those of people harassing women on their way to abortion clinics. The company’s Twitter account appeared to have turned off comments Friday morning, and its Yelp page displayed an “Unusual Activity Alert.”
“This business has recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their thoughts on the news,” Yelp’s announcement reads. “While we do not take a position one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we have temporarily disabled the posting of content on this page while we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual user experience and not recent events.”
Representatives for the chain, whose parent company is Landry’s, did not respond to a request for comment. Landry’s CEO is billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who appeared on CNBC’s “Billion Dollar Buyer” and whom Trump calls a “friend.” The Supreme Court’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In DC, political affiliation is one of 21 protected traits for those who live, visit or work in the city. As such, a business such as a restaurant cannot refuse service to someone based on party affiliation. Supreme Court justices have long insisted they are nonpartisan, even if they are appointed and confirmed by Democratic or Republican presidents. But the public and pundits increasingly view the Supreme Court as a political branch of government.
Although the Red Hen is not bound by D.C. law, Wilkinson said her decision to charge Sanders was not based on party affiliation. She blasted Sanders over a Trump administration decision the spokeswoman defended: to separate families trying to cross the U.S. border with Mexico.
“The Red Hen issue is often misconstrued as an act against a person because she is a Republican. Was not. It was the refusal of a particular person for a particular action or set of actions on his part. That is an entirely different rationale,” Wilkinson wrote.
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