This past weekend, there was a bit of an Audioslave reunion in Seattle, as Tom Morello joined Chris Cornell on stage at a benefit concert. Afterwards, however, the guitarist raged against restaurant 5 Point Cafe after he and his entourage were turned away from the eatery. “Five Point restaurant in Seattle is the WORST. Super rude & anti-worker. Shittiest foorman in the Northwest. Prick. Spread the word.” he Tweeted.
Later that evening, the owner wrote a lengthy reply on Facebook in response:
For the record Tom Morello – The 5 Point is totally pro-worker. We try to pay more than any other small restaurant, and on top of the higher pay, we offer health insurance, paid sick days, paid time off, retirement and profit share. Sorry if you had an issue with our staff, but typically our staff is awesome, and when they are not, it’s usually a reflection of the customer. Act like a prick = get treated like a prick.
I have to say, your attacking a small business without knowing anything about it, or addressing your problem with them directly before you go on a public rant, pretty much sucks. Just lost a ton of respect for you, and I’ve been a fan for years, both of your work in Rage and your work for workers rights since.
PS – rock stars don’t get special treatment at The 5 Point. We couldn’t give less of a shit. Sorry.
And PSS – I’m the owner of the 5 Point and have worked to raise the minimum wage in Seattle and support the same nationally, worked to get paid sick days law in Seattle, and am supporting a City sponsored retirement plan for employees of small businesses. I hope you do the same for your employees on the road…
PSSS – turns out he and his crew didn’t get let in as the place was at capacity and there was a line. No one was being let in. According to our doorman who I totally trust, Tom and his crew were all totally rude. Quote from the door guys “I knew who he was, we had no room, his whole party was being rude. He wanted a special room in the back. Clearly had no ideas what it is like inside. I’ve told bigger rock stars than him no.”
Two days later, Morello fired back, stating “Willing to forgive the Seattle Evil (Egg) Empire 5 Points Cafe doorman powertrip if good guy owner D Meinert fully embraces #15Now min wage,” referring to the attempt to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. He then gave a much longer response on Facebook, stating that he tried getting into the restaurant after a party of ten left, then again when he saw people he knew inside the restaurant. More importantly in his response, he seemed to recognize with a few days distance between the incident and the response that he was acting a bit like a pompous rock star. There’s also a comment from an article where someone spoke to the doorman who says that Tom and his party weren’t particularly rude, but he was most upset about being called out on Twitter. Ultimately, 5 Points is having the last laugh, as you can see by the marquee below their sign.
