Pizza birthday party for 5-year-old turns into debacle after request for knife to cut birthday cake at Joey Tomato’s after viral TikTok video captures owner, Doreen Sullivan-Karcich having mental breakdown. Unfolding drama captured by Tom Jurkowski, founder of Vintage New Jersey.
Define restaurant etiquette? A Point Pleasant Beach pizzeria is at the center of a social media storm after viral video showed the owner/staffer refusing to accommodate a family’s request while celebrating a child’s fifth birthday.
Captured video shared on TikTok shows Joey Tomato‘s owner since identified as Doreen Sullivan-Karcich declining to provide a knife for cutting a birthday cake, telling the family they were ‘inappropriate’ for asking. ‘You just don’t walk into a restaurant and do whatever you want,’ the irate woman says in the clip.
Tom Jurkowski, founder of Vintage New Jersey, shared the video (see below) and says his family called ahead for permission to bring the cake and spent around $250 on food. ‘We simply asked if we could borrow a knife to cut our birthday cake. We were even willing to pay any additional fee if there was one,’ he said in the video.
The video has been widely viewed with an array of reactions, with many commentators condemning Sullivan-Karcich and siding with the family.
Stated one social media user, ‘Good grief. We’re talking about a child’s birthday get-together dinner where the customer dropped $250 for food and drinks. You may not like it but you do it to please your customer.’
Added another, ‘A restaurant is not a house and asking for a knife to cut a cake is not asking for the moon. After spending $250, a simple gesture of civility would have been nice. Boycott the place. Shut it down!’
Nevertheless some users wondered if the family could’ve spared themselves and the owner the hassle and had simply brought their own birthday cake knife.
Reflected one social media user, ‘Why didn’t they bring their own knife? I have been there and always brought our own way to cut the cake. Even if the owner went off the deep end they probably shouldn’t provide the knife. If they cut themselves with the restaurant’s knife they could sue the restaurant.’
Stated another, ‘…restaurants have overheads, and the owner must have been peeved that they brought their own dessert,’ while adding, ‘Then, there is the family occupying tables/space without further purchases, and perhaps holding up other diners from being seated. Did they brink their own paper plates?’
Wondered one user, ‘So was it the cake or the knife that made her go crazy?’
Karcich speaking to Patch described the knife request ‘inappropriate.’
‘Okay so when I come to your house with my candles and my cake, am I going to be able to do whatever I want there now?’’ she asked, incensed.
But what if the house is actually your restaurant where customers spent $250 on pizza? Is a paying customer at some point able to request some extra items that might help their group have a pleasant dining experience and maybe return to your establishment? Or should the owner have tacked on $20 the way a restaurant adds a corkage price when a party bring their owns wine?
Jurkowski says that his table sought permission to bring the cake beforehand, spending around $250 on four large pizzas and beverages.
‘I hate to be that guy, but I just had to take a video of this because this was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced,’ Jurkowski wrote in the video caption.
Jurkowski says he never expected the incident to gain the degree of attention it had. ‘My hope is that everyone involved learns from this and that future customers are treated with a little more kindness and respect,’ he said in a follow up video.
Prior to the incident, Joey Tomato’s had a reputation for having a friendly environment, but its Yelp page has since been inundated with negative one-star reviews..
‘The owner is clearly having a mental health crisis in the presence of customers,’ one review reads.
Wrote another, ‘Many restaurants permit patrons to bring in a cake to celebrate. It is insane to see a business owner becoming completely unhinged in the middle of the establishment, humiliating a patron who asked for a knife.’
Users have since been blocked from leaving reviews on Yelp.
And then there was this reaction on social media that brought a rueful smile to this author’s face: ‘I find it disturbing how so many people air their grievances and problems online. Social media had created a generation of tattle-talers.’
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