TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Tampa craft beer and pizza restaurant is laying down the rules.
No children are allowed. Period.
“So, personally, wherever I go, he has to come with me,” said Stephanie Gallego, referring to her young son.
Gallego loves pizza. She’s even got a tattoo of a pizza on her ankle.
So, when she Googled pizza places near her home, Hampton Station came up.
But, a white-lettered sign on the front door that reads “No Children” stopped her in her tracks.
“Kids can be a ruckus sometimes, but if you’re trying to market in our community, I wouldn’t necessarily ban kids. I would possibly talk to the parents of them,” said Gallego.
“I definitely think that sales are gonna take a dip,” said Hampton Station owner Troy Taylor. He said the sign went up Tuesday.
“We had an incident last week where some kids were endangering themselves and others,” said Taylor.
The Facebook backlash is on, both for the ban on children and against.
“I haven’t got much sleep the past four or five days really, because of this. ‘Cause this is my livelihood,” said Taylor.
Customers at the craft beer and pizza place have mixed feelings.
“I’m here without my child today supporting him and a friend of mine, a business owner trying to support him,” said Brett Davis, who is the father of a 6-year-old girl.
“I would lighten it up. A little harsh. I think that there’s well-behaved kids. It’s all the parents,” said Phil Targeoski.
Gallego is a member of several Facebook mom groups.
“They wanted to voice their opinion. I’m telling you, 20 and 30 moms telling you this is complete absurdity,” she said.
Taylor stresses that he doesn’t hate children.
But, he says a few ruined it for everybody.
He doesn’t feel right singling out parents, so the rule stands.
