North Beach Restaurateur Responds To Homophobia Allegations

After allegations of homophobia started circulating online, a North Beach restaurateur spoke out for the first time in a Bay Area Reporter story today, saying he “loves gay people,” and is the victim of a “bad misunderstanding.”

On March 14, author Mark Doty, who is gay, posted an anecdote on his blog describing a run-in with a woman and a group of men in North Beach. The men, one of whom he said was the owner of Caffe Macaroni and Macaroni Sciue Sciue, allegedly called him “faggot,” and “twinkletoes,” and yelled at him to get back to the Castro, after he exchanged harsh words with the woman over her driving.

But restaurateur Mario Ascione told the Bay Area Reporter that while he did confront Doty, he didn’t say those things. He said there were a lot of drunk people out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and they chimed in with the homophobia.

The Reporter reported today that indignant readers of the blog picked up the story after Doty posted it, and berated the two restaurants — owned by Mario Ascione — on Yelp. Most of those reviews had been taken down when we checked, but a few left up make reference to the incident.

However, Ascione has his own supporters, who told the Reporter that they can’t imagine him using homophobic language.

Gay-friendly North Beach takes a hit [BAR]
Even though you are who you are [Mark Doty]
Caffe Macaroni [MenuPages]
Caffe Macaroni [Official Site]
Macaroni Sciue Sciue [MenuPages]
Macaroni Sciue Sciue [Official Site]

[Photo: Via Caffe Macaroni/Official Site]

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North Beach Restaurateur Responds To Homophobia Allegations