Restaurant fires manager after gay couple says they were scolded at CA ‘family’ eatery
The manager of a popular restaurant in California was fired after a gay customer said he was chastised for kissing his date, the patron and eatery said.
Actor Drew Droege took to social media to describe his experience at El Compadre, a Los Angeles restaurant, on Monday, Dec. 12.
According to Droege, he and his date were enjoying after-dinner drinks with their arms around each other when the manager approached and told them they couldn’t kiss because “this is a family restaurant.”
“We were genuinely shocked,” Droege said. “In 2022. In Echo Park, CA. At 6:30 p.m. on a Monday. The chilling and pointed tone of ‘we’re a family restaurant. We don’t allow your behavior here.’”
The restaurant quickly responded in a statement on Instagram, apologized, and announced that it had fired the manager involved and said his “behavior will never be tolerated” in the establishment.
“We do believe El Compadre to be a family restaurant, and coming into our restaurant is like coming into our home,” the statement said. “In our home we believe in love and equality and the fact that one of our employees made someone feel unsafe is not acceptable to us.”
Droege had described feeling unsafe in the caption of his Instagram post about the incident.
“Ever wonder why gay people often seem nervous? Why do we walk faster? Why do we work so hard to please others and be good little citizens in this world?” he wrote, adding that he would not go back to the restaurant.
Droege posted El Compadre’s statement to his own Instagram account. His fans wrote messages of support and appreciation in the comments of both posts. Many thanked him for speaking out about the incident.
“Thank you everyone for all the support and love,” he said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Restaurant fires manager after gay couple says they were scolded at CA ‘family’ eatery."
