RACISM WITH A CAPITAL R…read more
So, I've never written a review before, but my experience at Vera's was so jarring that I feel compelled to speak up.
It was Super Bowl Sunday, late in the 4th quarter. My wife and I, (along with our three-month-old daughter), visited Vera's Pizza in Ballard to root for our home team, and join a group of Latino friends who'd arrived earlier.
We hadn't been there more than 5 minutes when out of nowhere, a man (I presume the owner/GM), approached the table and said "no babies". Now, we had checked online before coming, to see if families were allowed, and had read reviews from parents who'd brought their children. Puzzled, when my wife asked for clarification, specifically why, he said "This is America, it's the law/this is how it's done here".
Now, my wife is a US citizen, (but Colombian by birth), and it was obvious she was being racially profiled; and right in front of her husband. What made his xenophobia even clearer was that, before we arrived, our group texted us that the volume had been turned all the way down during the halftime show featuring Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, so no one could hear it. The man had later said it was a "technical malfunction", even though the volume miraculously came back on right when the show ended.
With this thought in the back of my mind, it suddenly dawned on me that I was watching overt, undisguised racism in real time, and it shocked me. As a white American male, born and raised in the NW, I'd never seen anything like it, nor been on the receiving end of it.
Biting my tongue, I asked him if my daughter and I, (I was holding her), could go over to the food section of the pizzeria. That way she wouldn't be where the alcohol was being served. Again, he told us we had to leave.
So, there we were, a racially mixed American family, being kicked out of an eating establishment with just a few minutes to go before one of the biggest nights in Seattle sports history. After giving him a piece of our minds, we left.
Afterwards, we did some research and per online reviews, what we experienced was not an isolated incident. Reports of bigotry at Vera's Pizza are not uncommon.
So, if you care about doing the right thing; about not visiting a place that is racist, discriminatory, and dehumanizing; do yourself a favor, don't eat here. Don't patronize this business. This man is a dinosaur, a product of a bygone age, and his establishment should not receive any foot-traffic whatsoever if you care about equality, or the ideals of our country.