Apparently the presence of the American flag would be distracting to American customers, or something.
Officials with the parent company of Olive Garden restaurants say they’re sorry if a decision regarding an Alabama Kiwanis club’s desire to display the American flag caused any concern.
The comments come after 80-year-old Marti Warren of Anniston said she wasn’t allowed to bring an American flag into an Olive Garden for a planned Kiwanis Club banquet in the east Alabama town of Oxford.
Warren learned the night of the banquet that she wouldn’t be allowed to display the flag or the Kiwanis banner in the restaurant, she said. …
“To be fair to everyone and avoid disrupting the dining experience for all other guests, they’re unable to accommodate flags or banners of any type in the dining room,” according to the statement.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in an Olive Garden, but about 75% of the company’s customer base appears to be senior citizens. Are we really supposed to believe Olive Garden’s customers would be distracted by the presence of the country’s flag at a Kiwanis Club banquet?
Olive Garden is owned by Darden Restaurants, which also owns Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52. None of which will be getting my business until the company drops its allergy to the American flag.
Update: The company is in PR panic mode. They’ve posted a statement to their front page insisting it was all a miscommunication to staff and promising it won’t happen again.
Olive Garden Italian Restaurant: We’ve had some questions about whether or not guests can bring the American flag into our restaurants. We are very sorry for any misunderstanding about this issue. We do not have a policy at Olive Garden concerning bringing the American flag into our restaurants. Some members of our team were misinformed about company policy by our corporate office. As a company we take responsibility for that and we regret it. We take pride in how we communicate to our restaurants and we are correcting this so it doesn’t happen again. Like all Americans we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the American flag and everything it symbolizes, and we welcome anyone who wishes to bring the flag into our restaurants. In fact, we periodically provide American flag collar pins to our employees to wear while serving guests.
Good for them.
12. October 2011 at 8:14 pm
What is it about these companies that they dont understand that this is America. For goodness sake wake up. I say boycott Olive Garden and tell all your friends…
12. October 2011 at 8:32 pm
If you don’t eat there, that’s your choice. The market responds. But an alternative viewpoint is that OG was exercising their private property rights. A lot of restaurants aren’t set up for groups and have rules against displays. They aren’t a banquet hall and they don’t take reservations, so I doubt it was planned with the restaurant and I’m guessing Grandma Kiwanis just marched in and started hanging stuff on the walls, but I wasn’t there and can’t prove it. In any case, OG is dreadful for a lot of reasons, but this action doesn’t prove that they are unpatriotic. They said “flags or banners of any kind.” That’s content-neutral. Catch them being hypocrites and allowing some other flag, and I’ll reconsider. What if they had said “no live music” and “The Race” was screaming racism again because they refused to admit a Mariachi band? What would we say then? We’d say that they have private property rights that allow them to exclude live music without being branded as racists. So it goes for Kiwanees and “flags of any kind.” They are nuts to cave on this because every local chapter of the Che fan club is now free to demand equal treatment.
12. October 2011 at 10:12 pm
“But an alternative viewpoint is that OG was exercising their private property rights.”
Of course. I wasn’t calling for government action, just calling a boycott. I’m last the last person to infringe on rights. But it’s also my right to encourage others to join me in not favoring a business.
“A lot of restaurants aren’t set up for groups and have rules against displays.”
She was apparently told her party would be in a private room. And it appears the restaurant was aware of her party’s arrival beforehand.
“What if they had said “no live music” and “The Race” was screaming racism again because they refused to admit a Mariachi band? What would we say then?”
I’d say there’s a difference between a silent national flag for a private party and a loud sound echoing through a restaurant.
“They are nuts to cave on this because every local chapter of the Che fan club is now free to demand equal treatment.”
Um…no. They still have the right to decide what people hang in their restaurant. They’ve just clarified that one of the permitted items is the national flag — a symbol enshrined and protected by federal law and not representative of any particular political view or culture.
12. October 2011 at 11:50 pm
UPDATE! We won! The senior vice president of operations for Olive Garden is flying to town next week to meet with my mother(Marti Warren) and the officers of the Kiwanas Club for lunch and a formal apology. They took the blame in all of this and it is being corrected. Americans Flags are now welcome into their establishments. He could not believe that it hit facebook so strongly around the USA. I… spent alot of hours at this computer and with all of your help and support we got the word out! we Won! The story is being covered ny National News Stations now.
The Vice President will be here again in November to give a speech to all members of Kwianais around the state and so forth, Excepting responsibilty for this inconvenience and annouces the policy is corrected! SO thank you all who helped me get he word out, please repost as your status andf Fly ole Glory Fly!
Thank You