An Italian restaurant in NYC is under fire after sending an allegedly racist message to a customer on Instagram.
The unidentified customer, an Asian American woman, posted an Instagram story voicing her disappointment after dining at Pietro Nolita in Manhattan.
The woman was shocked after the restaurant apparently sent her the following reply to her story.
Friends of the woman have been posting the exchange all over on Facebook.
Since then, the restaurant’s Facebook page has been flooded with 1-star reviews.
We reached out to Pietro Nolita via phone and the owner, Pietro Quaglia, picked up to give his side of the story. He says that he sent the message himself and claims he didn’t mean to be racist at all and stressed that he invited her back.
“I put the heart and praying emoji! How could that be taken in a bad way?” he said.
When asked about his thoughts on all the 1-star reviews on yelp in lieu of the controversy, he simply replied “I’m the owner, I’m here working everyday, we make traditional Italian food here. I’m not on Yelp.”
Additionally, he send us an Instagram screenshot of a friend of the victim who called to get his side of the story to clear the air.
