Geno’s Steaks, Joey Vento, Immigration, Blah Blah Blah

Work as a Philadelphia food writer and you write about Joey Vento. Cause and effect.

Yesterday, we wrote that the Geno’s Steaks owner was holding a press conference. The Daily News’s Damon C. Williams stopped by and found out that Vento wants the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance changed, claiming it violates his rights to hang his sign demanding patrons order their steaks in English only:


The sign - “This is America … when ordering, please speak English” - was hung more than two years ago. Since then, Vento has been on the defensive, saying that he has tons of support and that he isn’t the racist that the news coverage made him out to be.

Vento and his lawyers intend to bring the fight to City Hall.

“We are sending a formal letter to the mayor on [Mayor Nutter’s] comments that Vento was a ‘black eye on the city,’ and we want a one-on-one conference,” said Vento’s co-counsel, Shannon L. Goessling, of the Southeastern Legal Foundation. “We also want the appointing of a special panel that will help rewrite the law so it won’t be unconstitutional.”

Philebrity has a different take.

Sequel to Geno’s sign flap: Vento wants apology & rewrite of law [Daily News]
Geno’s Steaks [MenuPages]
Geno’s Steaks [Official Site]

Geno’s Steaks, Joey Vento, Immigration, Blah Blah Blah