The New Jersey pizzeria owner at the center of a viral dispute is pushing back after video showed her reprimanding customers who brought a birthday cake into the restaurant and asked for a knife to cut it.
Doreen Sullivan-Karcich, who owns Joey Tomato’s, defended the decision, saying the group’s request during a child’s fifth birthday celebration was “inappropriate” and could not be allowed because of customer safety concerns.
“Let’s talk about that video,” the family behind the 30-year-old pizza shop on the Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach wrote, addressing the social media clip that sparked the backlash.
“For a few days now, the internet has decided it knows everything about our restaurant based on thirty seconds of footage that started after the real conversation was already underway. No context. No beginning. Just a clip, built for outrage, and a comment section full of opinions. Thank you to the people who supported us,” the family said in a Facebook statement.
The owners stressed that Joey Tomato’s is first and foremost a Jersey Shore pizza restaurant, not a banquet space, bakery or private party hall. “We built our name on pizza — the kind the Jersey Shore is known for,” they said.
Sullivan-Karcich said her response to the group was consistent with the rules and procedures the business is expected to follow, particularly in a busy restaurant environment.
“We are also Jersey Strong! Protecting our customers, employees, reputation, and brand is important. Every restaurant on this boardwalk has policies that exist for real reasons — food safety, liability, order in a kitchen running full speed on a summer night,” the statement continued.
The controversy began after Sullivan-Karcich was filmed confronting the large party when they asked to borrow a knife to slice a birthday cake they had brought into the Point Pleasant Beach pizzeria.
“You don’t just walk into a restaurant and do whatever you want,” Sullivan-Karcich said, asking them, “How about if I just come to your house with a cake?”
“Okay so when I come to your house with my candles and my cake, am I going to be able to do whatever I want there now?” she questioned.
The clip went viral after Tom Jurkowski, the owner of the Jersey Coast Emergency News account, who was there celebrating his nephew’s milestone, shared it across social media.
“I don’t owe you anything, have a good day!” Sullivan-Karcich exclaimed to the partygoers who were insistent on getting what they wanted.
Despite facing backlash over the video, the restaurant owners said they were not budging from their ruling made against supplying the utensil to the revelers.
“Those policies aren’t up for a public vote just because one moment of enforcing them got recorded,” the statement said. “We have persevered, one pie at a time, long before this video and long after it’s forgotten. That’s not going to change.”
Joey Tomato’s, who Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy famously reviewed and prides themselves as having “the Best Gourmet Pizza on the Jersey Shore” suggested changing its motto to remember the viral incident.
“Although we are considering a new tagline: We don’t do cake. We do pizza,” the store said in jest.
The pizzeria’s response did not win over social media users who continued to bash the business after releasing the statement.
“I can’t believe you thought this was a good idea,” one person wrote.
“I’m sorry” would have worked, and no one would be pissed. This was a great way to fan the flames instead of putting them out,” another said.
“This message was a whole bunch of nothing,” a third said.
