SLO County business owner says ‘F--- the locals.’ A heart emoji won’t smooth that over | Opinion
Sure, tourists may spend the big bucks — after all, they’re on vacation. But that’s no reason to disrespect the locals.
Yet that’s exactly what San Luis Obispo County restaurateur Roger Sharp did in a video post.
“F--- the locals. That’s the way I feel in my heart,” he said on a TikTok video.
Locals, he said, “are not the ones who make us money.”
Now a few locals are calling for a boycott of his restaurants, which include Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ, Nate’s Nashville Hot Chicken and Tortilla Town in Paso Robles; Big Rock Sweet Shop, Blue Sky Bistro on the Bay and Kicker’s in Morro Bay; Slappy’s Chowder House in Oceano; a second Tortilla Town in San Luis Obispo; and — most recently — Tito’s Red Tacos in Pismo Beach.
That’s not the end of the story.
Not my fault
When Tribune reporter Kaytlyn Leslie reached out for a comment, Sharp blamed the incident on his employees.
“The social team has been scolded,” he wrote, adding two laughing emojis at the end of the message.
Sharp did express love for locals — in the form of a heart emoji — but that doesn’t take away the sting.
He also identified himself as a local.
“I grew up in Paso Robles and still live there. 4th generation. I love all my customers. I don’t differentiate from where they live or any other category,” he said via email.
But where’s the mea culpa?
There’s not even a hint of an apology, not in his response to The Tribune or in a new video recently posted to his TikTok account, where he once again puts the blame on his employees.
“Those are employee meetings, right?” he says. “So we’ll film the whole thing and I don’t even know we’re filming, right? I’m just talking ... and then I don’t necessarily say what to post, either. You know what I mean? So I’m a little shocked sometimes at what’s being said.”
Brand messaging?
Here’s the kicker: Sharp promotes himself as a “food service industry coach” and offers free consultation sessions to others in the restaurant business.
“HERE TO HELP, FIX OR ACQUIRE YOURS,” he advertises on his website, restaurant-millionaire.com.
“Roger’s attention to detail, brand messaging, and commitment to offering the highest quality food separates our restaurants from the competition,” the website says.
Yeah, it sure did. It separated him from restaurants whose brand messaging doesn’t include cursing out their patrons.
Would you go to this man for business advice?
We didn’t think so.
Look, we all say things we shouldn’t from time to time, but for a business owner to insult customers and then offer a heart emoji instead of an apology is next-level rude and unprofessional.
And insulting “locals” for not spending enough overlooks everything else SLO County residents do for our economy.
No restaurant or retail shop could function without local employees who operate cash registers, wait tables, drive delivery trucks, maintain equipment, mop floors and a host of other duties.
And don’t forget, locals are often the ones who steer tourists to a particular shop or restaurant.
This insult will probably all blow over.
But in the meantime, Sharp might want to work on his public relations skills — maybe hire one of those crisis PR teams to help him draft a letter of apology.
This story was originally published September 15, 2023 at 11:16 AM.