The newly opened stationary location of former food truck Pi Pizza got a huge boost in business this weekend after pro-gun-carry groups began leaving hundreds of negative online reviews of the restaurant, Eric Sandler reports this morning. Owner Anthony Calleo tells Sandler that Pi’s sales at the strip center spot south of I-10 where Funky Chicken used to roost were up nearly 20 percent on Saturday and 40 percent on Sunday.
What exactly triggered waves of gun activists (and counter-protesting pizza-supporters) to take to the restaurant’s Facebook and Yelp pages en masse? A casually dismissive and — sure — less-than-completely-diplomatic response to an initial 1-star review of the restaurant, by a user who had never visited, based solely on Pi’s decision to opt out of open and concealed carry. Sandler notes that Pi’s Facebook review page has been temporarily taken down, as the hundreds of negative reviews (and even larger numbers of positive comments and counterreviews, at least some of which also appear to be from people who have never visited the restaurant) eventually escalated to public searches for Calleo’s home address by some of the more enthusiastic pro-carriers; the pizza joint’s Yelp page was still in lockdown as of this afternoon.
***
The recent inundation of Pi with digital teardown attempts stands in contrast to the story up at Brook’s Place in Cypress — which, after actively encouraging customers to open carry with a discount for visible guns, received that one apparently-never-acted-upon potential threat via Facebook. Heard anything about the responses at some of the dozens of other restaurants and institutions that banned open or concealed carry? Tell us about it in a comment.
- Social media frenzy: Gun activists target acclaimed pizza shop over concealed carry law [CultureMap]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Places To Flaunt Your Glock Now That HB 910 Is In Effect;Â Cypress Barbecue Trailer Threatened with Gun Violence for Supporting Open Carry;Â Smokin’ Cypress BBQ Hotspot Will Welcome Your Unpacked Heat;Â Simon Says Don’t Bring Your Guns to the Galleria
Photo of Pi Pizza at 181 Heights Blvd.: Pi Pizza
God bless you internet
I would have completely forgotten this place opened if it wasn’t for the gun nuts.
I’m glad this completely backfired, I’ll be heading there this weekend!
Why, did the Internet sneeze?
all of this controversy obscures the real reason why you shouldnt go to pi pizza – the ridiculous prices. the smaller 12″ size of the meat lovers pizza is $20! and on top of that, they force you to order at the counter and then go sit at a table to force you to pay a waiter a tip on top of that. sorry, calleo i really wanted to love your place, but there are simply too many great pizza places in houston for anyone to waste their money on this pizza. luna is cheap and some really great pizza, pizza l’vino is some damn fine pizza not that far away, and several of these cheap, fast pizza places like mod pizza or your pie downtown, covering all segments of the price/quality pizza spectrum in houston.
Gun lovers meet the Streisand effect.
Planned publicity stunt / free advertising. Very well played.
The left will always win at these little “internet battles”. They’re better at it and have more free time.
.
Not trying to insult either side — that’s just facts born out of many other stories like this.