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Juntos, a Hispanic neighborhood organization, said it plans to send people to Geno's to try to order in Spanish and may pursue court action, depending on what happens.

"His grandparents encountered the same racism and the same xenophobia," said Peter Bloom, the group's director. "Why would he begin that process over again?" 

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ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

I think any business dealing with the public has an obligation to carry out the customers' wishes to the best of their ability.

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ORIGINAL: HarryVanWinkle

I think the owner of a business should have the right to run his business in any way he pleases.

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ORIGINAL: KatyLied

I am firm in my belief that if you are going to reside here, you should make an effort to learn the language.

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Suppose tourists from Spain came to Geno's and tried to order in English, but couldn't.  Would they have been right to turn away those tourists too?  Fortunately, people in other countries don't have that attitude toward English.

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I think any business dealing with the public has an obligation to carry out the customers' wishes to the best of their ability.  Funny, I'm exactly on the other side of this.  Things like GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS should all be in English, but they're not, and people should be allowed to order from a restaurant in whatever language they damned well please.  Our country has this exactly backwards.

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ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

That's the way they used to do it in the Jim Crow South.  I thought we had moved beyond that.

We've never believed that business owners have the right to run their businesses any way they please.  Businesses have been regulated by government since the beginning of time, and people don't want to see what would happen if we started rolling that back now.

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ORIGINAL: HarryVanWinkle

I think the owner of a business should have the right to run his business in any way he pleases.

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ORIGINAL: HarryVanWinkle

When I don't like the way a business does business, I take my business elsewhere.

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ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Suppose tourists from Spain came to Geno's and tried to order in English, but couldn't.  Would they have been right to turn away those tourists too?  Fortunately, people in other countries don't have that attitude toward English.

I think any business dealing with the public has an obligation to carry out the customers' wishes to the best of their ability.  Funny, I'm exactly on the other side of this.  Things like GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS should all be in English, but they're not, and people should be allowed to order from a restaurant in whatever language they damned well please.  Our country has this exactly backwards.

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ORIGINAL: andal

Since my first visit to Philadelphia in '02, I have been a huge fan of cheesesteaks.  (Can't say I truly was before, because they don't make them nearly as good anywhere else.  Except maybe Texadelphia, but that's another thread.)  I'm also a big fan of Geno's.  Honestly, I can't say that I would ever get a steak at Pat's, but that has to do with the long-standing feud over that murderer the two stores have.  Fortunately, I had a native to translate on my first visit (I speak broken Philadelphianese) but I quickly embraced the ambrosia that is "Provolone wit'."

Check out the entrance to many restaurants and stores in any major area, and most of them have signs such as "No shoes, no shirt, no service," or "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."  There's nothing wrong with that in my opinion.  Many convenience stores have signs saying "No more than 2 students allowed inside at one time."  A business has a right to determine how they do business, the customer has the right to not do business with them.  And if you've ever been, I know that they are a friendly bunch of people, they often joke with people in line (even while running around like chickens with their heads cut off to get you your steak fast and hot.)  A friend told me that they even help tourists to say "cheesesteak" as a way of promoting the american lifestyle.  (And if you can at least say that one word, they'll hand you the perfect combination of beef and beef products, mixed with processed grains and the bounty of the earth in a mouthwatering combination of pure gooey greatness.)

To flip it around a bit, when I go into a mexican restaurant, when I order I will order fajitas, tacos, queso, guacamole with no problem.  I've even been into mexican restaurants where I'm the only person who speaks english as a first language, and I can order my food no problems.  "Dos tacos, rancharro, queso, grande Dr. Pepper por favor."  Of course, chinese restaurants you can order "#4, #41, and a #38" which is two egg rolls, beef fried rice, and sweet and sour pork at my favorite restaurant in my hometown.  That is part of the appeal to me.

Now to address the "immigrant's rights" culture.  When people immigrated to the United States, they all had the idea of achieving the "American Dream."  Whatever happened to that?  To come to this country, get a new start, and with hard work and perseverance you can succeed.  They all managed to learn english and to fit in, while still maintaining their cultural integrity (See Chinatown, Little Italy, etc.)  What has changed?  If you come to America for a better opportunity in your life, you are coming here because you think America is doing something right.  Wouldn't it be in your best interests to learn as much about it as possible, rather than come over here and tear down the institutions this country has?  That's like me going to my friends house for dinner because his mom is cooking Spaghetti that night, (which you loved when he shared it at lunch last week in school) and then going into the kitchen and telling her, "You're putting too much garlic in there, you need more tomatos, the noodles are under cooked" before tasting it for the first time.

Oh, and if you object to Geno's business practices, you can cross the street to Pat's.  Or one of the other 250 steak places in a 5 mile radius. So the "what if there is no competition?" point is moot in this case.  (Now if you are talking about tiered internet services mandated by the government, that's another thread.)

Okay, enough of this, I'm going to head to Texadelphia for lunch, since it's a long plane ride to Pennsylvania for a sandwich.  (But it would almost be worth it...)

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I don't think anyone disputes that, but it's not up to Geno's Restaurant to tell immigrants what they can and cannot do. Geno's needs to leave politics to politicians and go back to making cheese steaks.

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you can order "#4, #41, and a #38"

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ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster
Suppose tourists from Spain came to Geno's and tried to order in English, but couldn't.  Would they have been right to turn away those tourists too?  Fortunately, people in other countries don't have that attitude toward English.