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Portland restaurant owner says he regrets post calling on 'border czar'

Mar. 29—The owner of a Portland Italian restaurant said he regrets a now-deleted Facebook post identifying the races of people he said left the restaurant without paying and calling on a Trump administration immigration official. The post from Maria's Restaurant, made Friday night, said "(Greater) Portland restaurants beware older Hispanic women and even older Black man leaving restaurant without paying." The post then referred to Tom Homan, President Donald Trump's "border czar." "Tom (Homan) we could use you tonight," it said. The post caused a stir on social media and was screenshotted and reposted by users on both Facebook and Reddit. A screenshot of the post on Reddit had more than 100 comments Saturday afternoon. One Facebook user, Michael Brian, said on the platform that the post from Maria's was "a thinly veiled call for deportation and criminalization." "We see you. We remember. And we don't support racist businesses," the post from Saturday morning read. Reached by phone Saturday afternoon, owner Tony Napolitano said he made the post in a "fit of rage" after a party left without paying their bill Friday night. He said he took the post down either Friday night or early Saturday morning after receiving complaints on social media. "It wasn't meant to be racist at all, and I'm sorry that I posted it," Napolitano said. "People think what they think, so I just hope it doesn't go too far." Maria's Restaurant has been in operation since 1960 and moved from Cumberland Avenue to its Congress Street location in 2019. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less