Negative backlash to a New Jersey restaurant’s ill-advised “Proud Boys Burger” triggered an “unusual activity alert” on the eatery’s Yelp review page.
Last week, Toms River eatery Aqua Blu Kitchen & Cocktails added a burger to its menu honoring the militant organization the Anti-Defamation league calls “a tent for misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies and other forms of hate — including antisemitism and white supremacy — that oppose progressivism, feminism, multiculturalism and ‘woke’ ideology in the United States.”
That burger was made with “white American cheese, onion ring layers of truth, resilience pickles, freedom fries, cancel culture coleslaw and liberty sauce,” according to NJ.com.
Days earlier — after beginning his second term in the White House — President Donald Trump issued pardons to right-wing extremists including members of the Proud Boys, who were involved in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol after Trump was defeated in the 2020 presidential election.
“This business recently received public attention, which means people come to this page to post their views on the news,” Yelp monitors posted on Aqua Blu’s page after the negative press started pouring in.
The restaurant said on Facebook that it doesn’t support hate groups and assured customers the unidentified individual responsible for its ill-advised marketing scheme was no longer an Aqua Blu employee.
Despite Yelp’s claim it was monitoring activity on the 13-year-old restaurant’s page, plenty of negative comments slipped through from angry consumers who labeled Aqua Blu bigoted and hostile toward law enforcement.
“Stopped in the other night and we’re looking forward to a nice night out… until we got a look at the ‘specials,’” claimed one New Jersey woman. “We got up and left. We don’t like or support racists.”
At least one Yelp commenter remembered New Jersey native and United States Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, 42, who suffered two strokes after engaging MAGA extremist groups like the Proud Boys when they attacked the U.S. Capitol in Jan. 6, 2021 and died the following day.
“Proud boys burger, really?” one Californian wondered Monday.
“To those who have supported us over the years, we deeply appreciate every single one of you,” Aqua Blu concluded its Facebook mea culpa. “We hope you understand and accept this as a formal apology.”