Bar review-bombed after being accused of anti-Asian racism on TikTok
A San Francisco bar’s Yelp page was review-bombed—and subsequently temporarily disabled—after it was accused of anti-Asian racism against a teen in a now-viral TikTok video.
The 18-year-old’s mother, Sofia Enguillado, is the one who posted the video to TikTok on April 4, and it has since been viewed over 850,000 times. The video details an attack on her son that took place outside of the bar, Gino and Carlo. The Daily Dot has reached out to Enguillado as well as Gino and Carlo.
In the video, Enguillado included photos of her son’s eye looking bruised and swollen. She also included photos of Gino and Carlo and its co-owner, Frank Rossi, along with Rossi’s Facebook profile. “Get the fuck out of here. You don’t even belong in here in the first place,” she alleges Rossi said to her son, who local news outlets have identified as C.J. Enguillado.
“If you’re Asian, this is the type of service you get waiting for pizza in Little Italy North Beach, San Francisco,” the TikToker says, using the text-to-speech effect and including hashtags such as #stopasianhate and #stopasianhatecrimes.
As SFGATE noted, a pizzeria is located next to Gino and Carlo, though it remains unclear if that's where the family was intending to order pizza from.
According to SFGATE, a man not affiliated with the bar was arrested for the attack on Enguillado's son. Enguillado alleged on Facebook that Rossi tried to get her son, who was apparently sitting in the bar's outdoor seating area, to leave due to him being underage, eventually calling on another person for backup. That person, she alleged, shoved the family's dog before punching the teen. "He called my son a dumbass hovered over my son & punched him," she wrote.
Enguillado also alleged Rossi then blamed her son’s attack on him "for not leaving the premises."
"I just couldn’t bare the thought that my son who was not in a provocative state at all was picked on by these two grown assholes," she wrote.
She said the incident occurred on Friday. Police confirmed with SFGATE that the physical altercation took place on the sidewalk and that a suspect was arrested on assault and battery charges. There has been a rise in anti-Asian violence across the U.S. in recent months. However, police told KPIX 5 in a statement: "We do not have evidence to believe this incident was predicated by hate."
Rossi also told the outlet that he asked C.J. Enguillado to leave solely due to his age. “I am not a racist, in fact I kick people out of my bar, when they say racist things,” Rossi reportedly said.
In an interview with KPIX 5, C.J. Enguillado said he was waiting for his parents in the area outside the bar, thinking it was open seating, and acknowledged that Rossi asked him to leave several times. He also acknowledged that he refused to leave. “By the way it sounded, he said, ‘Get the fuck out of here, you don’t belong here,” that’s what he said, and I cannot forget those words,” he recalled. “That’s, like, traumatizing to me.”
In her Facebook post, Sofia Enguillado said the man who attacked her son is retired pro boxer Pat Lawlor, who, Rossi confirmed with SFGATE, is a regular at the bar. The San Francisco Chronicle has also since confirmed Lawlor's identity. The Daily Dot has reached out to the San Francisco Police Department.
Rossi told KPIX 5 he "went nuts when (the man arrested) hit (C.J. Enguillado)." “I could not believe he did it. There was no threat, no threat. I was completely caught off guard by it," Rossi said.
He alleged that the family of C.J. Enguillado is now falsely accusing him of racism. “I want to say that they’re mistaken, their son shouldn’t have been hit. (The man arrested) doesn’t work for us, he never did work for us. He’s just a customer. Sorry it happened, but it wasn’t racism at all, or a hate crime against Asians,” he told the outlet.
Gino and Carlo was review-bombed after the TikTok video went viral, with many people including screenshots of it in their negative reviews. “Imagine coming to get pizza but ending up with an eye contusion bc of xenophobic & racist owners,” part of one review said.
“It’s a shame the owners and employees of this establishment are racist and violent,” another read. “Please avoid this restaurant. They have publicly inflicted violence against Asians.”
Rossi is also now reportedly on the receiving end of death threats.
Following the influx of negative reviews, Yelp temporarily disabled the ability to leave a review on the page as it investigates “the content.”
“While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with),” part of Yelp’s "public attention alert" on the page reads.
Gino and Carlo released a statement via its Yelp page on April 4. "An unfortunate incident occurred on our property between two patrons when an underaged guest refused to leave," it reads. "No Gino and Carlo employees were involved in the physical altercation. We don't condone violence or racism of any kind. Sincerely, Frank Rossi and Gino and Carlo staff."
H/T SFGATE
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