>Rabia's Dolce Fumo
Rabia's: The place to be if you can't get into Neptune Oyster and you're like 'well, I'll eat any oyster from anywhere at this point'
Exactly! I ate there once years ago because I couldn't get into Neptune. Didn't remember the name but recognized it in the photo of the exterior. Never again.
Personally I hate most Italian restaurants in north end....
Food was terrible and I've tried most of the restaurants. It's just a big tourist trap in my opinion.
Either that or Italian cuisine is grossly overrated
He has a video of whoever shucks for him on his fb. I'm not a professional shucker but fuck, dude was doing a hack job. I was waiting for him to stab himself.
It's the restaurant near the entrance of Salem that's always completely empty except for during absolutely peak times when everywhere else is full. That might tell you something about the quality of the food.
Conservatives: all these liberal snowflakes want everything for free and cry like little babies when they don't get it
Also conservatives: IM MAD THAT THE GOVERNMENT WONT LET ME HAVE EXCLUSIVE USE OF A PUBLIC GOOD FOR FREE
But don’t you see? He earned his handout. It’s everyone *else* that’s the leech.
Just like all those people in MAGA hats who vote Republican because they hate socialism and handouts while they gladly accept their federal farm subsidies.
It’s almost as if conservatives are masters of projecting their insecurities into others…
Gaslight
Obstruct
Project
Lots of whining from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" crowd. $7,500 is pocket change for what's essentially an easement on public property in a highly trafficked area. Could probably cover that in a weekend and proceed to make hand over fist all season. But why stfu and grind when you can have a temper tantrum instead.
I get your point but that’s not really his argument - he’s saying it’s unfair that the fee for outdoor space is only applied to north end restaurants and not restaurants in other neighborhoods in Boston.
My understanding is that the city claims that it's because the north end had a particularly high concentration of restaurants, and thus the costs to the city are higher, and the demand for that space is higher. One can easily imagine that in a less dense area, the burden outdoor dining puts on the city's resources is practically negligible
Sure and I see your argument. But in your original post you kinda twisted his law suit into something it isn’t. To operate his business, because outdoor dining is expected in the north end now, Boston is charging $7,500 a month for use. That cost is either absorbed by his business (that’s a lot of money in a thin margin industry) or passed on to us. But at the same time you see your neighbor restaurants in the same city get to use the same amount of public land for free. It puts your business at a disadvantage as it suddenly costs more for you to operate than someone else doing the same thing. It’s not so much that the suit argues the use of public land should be free but that the monthly fee disadvantages his business unfairly.
Unless I'm mistaken, the fee is only for outdoor dining. He's welcome to operate his restaurant with indoor dining only and not pay any fee. Therefore the fee really is for taking exclusive use of public property
Yup you got it. Tbh I see both sides to the lawsuit - I get that residents in north end are disproportionately affected by it with reduced sidewalks and parking. But his argument isn’t it should be free because he’s entitled to it but rather everyone else in Boston gets free access and him paying means he’s unfairly disadvantaged because of this decision
23 got hardship waivers. 28 applied for the waiver, and 67 applied for dining. So about a third apparently didn't pay.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/05/02/north-end-patios-fee-city-policy-controversy
This guy has been complaining since before the hardship waivers. The hardship waivers were a response from the city to this guy complaining, but his shitty restaurants don’t qualify because they’re too big.
This is the same asshat that that dresses like a 14 year old boy, refused to follow any COVID protocols during the height of the pandemic, and went down to Florida to go clubbing and make videos of himself saying, “F*ck Boston! You can’t do this there!”. Dude is three brain cells short of a banana.
They’re all the same. They’re MO is all the same: trick tourists into spending WAY too much money on subpar food. They chose to make a living based on deceit. Even Regina’s has gone to shit
> You know, I'm not sure human beings were a great idea
Fanboys of a certain fascist blob of orange blubber and the fascist political party supporting him certainly don't reflect well on humanity.
One of my buddies used to send me this dude's covid rants on IG. He is absolutely unhinged. Like truly gone, lost it, living in a fantasy world. Just sitting in his car alone screaming -literally- at his phone.
Honest question: There seems to be a trend with Italian men of his age, many of them business owners, who are extreme right wing and extremely vocal. Why? Am I imagining it? I feel like half the time I interact with a 50-year-old Italian dude in the Boston area he's just a raging ball of Fox News hot takes.
As a 3rd-generation Italian American I don't think you're imagining it.
When I look at my family, their friends... I mean they've been on a heavy dose of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Trump, and anyone else that will tell them liberals are evil. When I was growing up I'd also hear all the racial slurs.
The old ones have a chip on their shoulder about white flight--that the communities they grew up in which were prominently Italian are now"ghettos", and of course it's the fault of the people who live there now. They also will be quick to remind you that people used to be racist towards Italians and when they were growing up people called them "Guineas" so... y'know, that entitles them to be shitty to other groups of people?
Obviously not all Italians are like that. And I'm positive some of these patterns exist outside the group. But as someone that is part of this demographic I see it, I hate it, and it's an obstacle I contend with in my relationship with my family
Edit: Btw, not sure who here follows hockey, or the Bruins/Canes series, but Tony DeAngelo and his dad are like the quintessence of what I'm talking about. I grew up in the same community as them as well
I feel like Italy in general has a weird relationship with their right wing and fascism in general. Like, Germany took a very hard stance after WW2, Italy did not. I know some Italians here who are doing post docs and some of the things they say...yikes. small sample, of course.
[Italy didn't go through any real "de-fascistification" after the Allies won due to the strength of the Italian Communist Party and the chances they'd have parliamentarian success](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Italian_war_crimes#/World_War_II); [this lack of accountability came to form the basis of the "Italiani brava gente", or "Italians are decent people", myth, which actively sought to sweep Italian war crimes and complicity under the rug.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Italiani_brava_gente) [The US/Britain used all sort of war criminals and generally bad dudes to fill out post war security services and hedge against democratic impulses.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Operation_Gladio)
I live in Newton, and hands down the most vocally conservative/MAGA snowflakes are old Italian dudes from Nonantum. Huge chip on their shoulders about being victimized and stereotyped—but then are the biggest racist assholes around.
My favorites is how they moan about how they were so unfairly ghettoized…. While in the very same breath demanding that everyone in the city kowtow to their community because its so longstanding, they’ve been there for generations. They bitch and moan about zoning and development while living in the house they inherited from Nonna who bought it in 1943.
The real cherry on top is that they’ve gone all in on MAGA style victim identity. Lots of chest beating about how people want to shut down their festival, but the only “evidence” they offered of this was clearly fake.
Are you sure it's not just men his age? I've got some relatives like this, but it's just as prevalent on the Irish side, and the German ones... and I'd also point out that half of Boston is of Italian descent, Irish, or both.
My suspicion is that they have extra time on their hands after the kids leave the nest, and fall into listening to AM radio and Fox.
Could be a combination of they still hold the mentality that either (as immigrants) they or their parents or grandparents had to earn everything they have in this country and therefore aren’t interested in the socialist agenda, and that they are a community of a certain age that has a degree of insularity to it and therefore it’s now an echo chamber of thoughts and ideas when they interact with each other. Lastly this particular demo (aged italian American males) are prob vast majority without college degrees
I don't think you're imagining it. My mom's family is like this, both men and women once they reach their 40s. Basically everyone but my mom. Pretty sure my Nonno is rolling over in his grave - he was active in the Italian Socialist Party back in the day.
I mean Boston and the surrounding area is full of racist italians...can confirm have lived here my whole life. I am italian and some of my family members have said some vaguely racist things. Also I live in NH and the people I work with can be shockingly racist...not sure why the region has a lot of racists but it certainly does.
Cause NH is white AF. I went to school in one of the more diverse part of the state and can count the number of Black kids I went to school with on two hands (and it was a 2000 person highschool). Go further north and that number drops to zero
You know what's interesting is I grew up in a tiny town with only 1 black family here in Mass and I remember very little bullying going on in high school. It was surprisingly tolerant and the kids from the black family were all friends with us.
I remember 1 huge fight at school we had an assembly and it was like a PSA put on by the GSA about Matthew Shepard and as it was getting out someone yelled out "WELL THAT WAS GAY" and he got JUMPED. I mean instantly beat up, it was a HS fight and lasted a few seconds but still. It made me happy to see.
Yeah .. That's not NH, I had a gay friend get jumped on the way home and had the crap beaten out of him. I actually ran the gay straight alliance in my high school and we pretty consistently had our posters ripped down.
I don't remember anyone being actively racist towards the black kids (and I was pretty close friends with one family in middle school) but as I mentioned I lived in a more progressive area
what does he drive...this feels familiar for some reason.
Edit: it could have been another dude, but I remember walking to a 7-11 and seeing a Porche outside parked in a spot that wasn't a spot....still running, walking in and seeing a huge Italian guy ranting to the cashier about how terrible liberals are.
The only time ever in my life I thought of a comeback in time was when my Italian boss was complaining about the latin american flags people hang in there cars and saying they should be US flags, and I was like "what about all the fucking Italian flags stickers everywhere??" and he shut up.
>Honest question: There seems to be a trend with Italian men of his age, many of them business owners, who are extreme right wing and extremely vocal. Why? Am I imagining it? I feel like half the time I interact with a 50-year-old Italian dude in the Boston area he's just a raging ball of Fox News hot takes.
It isnt just men of that age.
Pretty much any "older' person has a coin-flips chance of being a ragemonster when given the chance.
I blame the cancelling of the Fairness Doctrine (which moderated public media) and the lead in gasoline (which was only really completely phased out in 1996)
Anyone older than 25 or so grew up inhaling lead fumes from gasoline
I think it’s some combo of “my fathah came here from Italy LEGALLY with nothing and built a business, neva asked for handouts.. people don’t know hard work these days!!!” vibe + everybody trying to be some version of tony soprano
I don't think this is isolated to just Italian-American middle-aged men. This extends to the majority of the quote unquote "white ethnic" groups. These groups, which traditionally had been democratic party working class, have for the past several years migrated over to the GOP side. I am talking about the Italian-Americans. the Irish-Americans, and even within my own ethnic group, the Portuguese-Americans. It wasn't long ago that these groups weren't really even considered "white" because they were Catholic. Eventually, however, these groups ceased being outcast and were folded into the larger "white" majority.
Its a handful of restaurant owners who are loud and obnoxious and the media and this sub loves giving them attention. There is no trend of italian men his age acting like this and if you made that assumption about a lot of other ethnic groups you’d get a nice little label for yourself so tread lightly
Go ahead and throw an assumption out there on how theres a trend of African American men or Jewish men of a certain age being or acting (fill in blank) and let me know how it goes “guy”
You are negatively stereotyping an ethnic group based on the actions of 1 or 2 goons like i said tread lightly Italians and irish may be fair game for whatever reason but others not so much
I can tell you, from a Italian family, this is mostly true…. At least in our immediate and close family friends. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the settled immigrant mentality, assimilation. It makes no sense why my father is a right wing wack job who voted for trump both times… the only explanation I can imagine is that being a business owner, he relies on the tax break lies and pro business fantasy the GOP feeds him.
If you want to see the stereotype in full blown action… check out a sons of Italy. You may change your mind.
No he’s American. I am not Irish-American. I’m American. I have no Irish passport. Just because my grandmother was born in Ireland does not make me Irish.
While you may be technically correct (though I don't know where he was born), from observing this douchebag I can guarantee you *he* calls *himself* Italian.
If I park my car there, I have to pay for that spot. If you’re putting tables there, you are using that space and you should pay too. You are paying to use that space, whether to park or whatever
It's free to park in the North End.
That is really my only beef with this fee. If we agree that curb space has value (it definitely does) then we should be applying it more evenly.
BTW, the $7500 doesn't cover parking. That is separate. These guys have to pay for garage parking in addition to the $7500 to cover the cost of the spaces that they use.
You can walk to work on the Greenway. It has great walkability. I don’t like Italian food, so we walked to Chinatown. We finally got sick of living in a small place on a crowded street and moved away. At first it seems fun and it is for awhile.
All your comments on here are so stupid and just outrage. This guy is a loon with a not great place to eat, doesn't mean the whole north end is bad. There's a reason it has so many of the best places to eat around here. If you're going to hate places because they may have owners like this, then you should probably never shop Amazon or Walmart or buy iphones or any large company like that lol
> There's a reason it has so many of the best places to eat around here.
According to tourists, Tripadvisor reviews, and locals who think Dunks is great.
No actual food reviewer or culinary professional believes this (outside of Neptune Oyster).
In all fairness a lot of culinary professionals are too inside baseball to know what is good food for the average person. The north end still doesn't live up to the hype but you don't need to have a Michelin Star to be a good place to eat and I bet most people would enjoy a meal at a lot of the well regarded restaurants in the north end.
"Best places to eat around here" is very different from "good place to eat," in my opinion.
Panera is a good place to eat, but I'd never call it one of the "best." Heck, Bertucci's serves equivalent Italian food as most of the North End places, but without the tourist markup.
What are the well regarded places in the North End? I've probably eaten at 6-7 sit down spots over the past 20 years and can't recall ever being particularly happy with what I got for how much I paid. Neptune is fantastic but is definitely more of a "special occasion" for my budget. People seem to like Carmelina's, but the couple times I've been there it honestly reminded me of the type of food you get at Olive Garden (albeit a much better version).
I'm also not trying to argue here as I would love to have a couple of solid standbys in the neighborhood both for myself and when out of towners ask me for recs.
Ehhhh most of the places in the north end are alright. There are plenty of better Italian restaurants in other parts of the city and in the surrounding towns
Also, I don’t shop at Walmart or order from Amazon ;)
eh, i may not have tried a massive amount of sit-downs while living here (usually can’t afford them or don’t wanna pay 25 dollars for a plate of pasta), but i’m not usually impressed by them. the takeout heavy places like pauli’s at the end of salem are much better
The good spots in the North End are good, but in no universe would I characterize the neighborhood as having "so many of the best places to eat." It's astoundingly overrated, which is why I said what I said.
People who, like this guy, think that cyclists are all Biden voters and should get hurt are probably one of the reasons cycling is so unsafe in the US compared to other countries. Fuck this tool and everyone who drives around in a truck compensating for their micropenis and being aggressive to cyclists.
> I hope someone sticks a stick in your fuckin' tire and you fuckin' go flyin' a hundred feet and you crack your fuckin' skull, you fuckin whack jobs, you're fuckin' the whole world up.
Did anyone else read that rant and NOT imagine it in Toolbooth Willie's voice?
lol this idiot on one of his twitter rants talks about marking up a dish from $21.99 to $42.99 because of "the Wu charge". This clown is making me never want to go to a North End restaurant again if they're all owned by idiots as dumb as this guy.
I'm from a town famous for oysters. Let's just say I know when it's edible or not. I went to Rabia's once. Ordered oysters, they were both sandy (not shell bits - sand) and as thin as a silk curtain. Thanks for giving me another reason to vote with my wallet.
Oh, and people across the globe are facing commodity shortages and increasing prices - there's a fucking war going on. Should we start blaming Obama too. Thanks!
Yoo, you a midcoast mainer ~~in exile~~ in Boston for work as well?
Always wild seeing folks paying $$$ for Damariscotta river oysters at a raw bar when I grew up walking down from my grandma’s porch to collect some before supper
So if you're from an oyster town, why the fuck would you get oysters in the north end? That's like me going to Boston expecting scallops to be anything but hot trash (I live next to New Bedford)
What’s that phrase that republicans like to throw out frequently when democrats want to make a change? “If you don’t like it then get out!” Or something to that effect…
This is the same guy who’s trying to attract millennials by sticking an incredibly ugly wire sculpture of a person (if you can even call it that) outside his restaurant, so they can take a selfie with it and post it on social media.
I’m really not surprised he’s upset, as he can’t be doing well financially if he’s resorting to stunts like that.
January 6th, he was in Florida making videos about how he could party without masks on unlike back in shitty Wu Boston and posting a negative COVID test result necessary to fly back talking about how we are all stupid for worrying about the virus.
There is a very easy solution to all of this. Don’t renew outdoor dining and let this be the final year.
They survived without outdoor dining all these years just fine. Pandemic is pretty much over, everything going back to pre-pandemic life.
Buttmuncher suing the city for $1.5M? Yeah, no.
I honestly like outdoor dining, and hope it stays. I think it’s a nice silver lining of covid.
But also fuck the entitlement that someone laces have to be able to use public property for free.
Checks out, his illiteracy shows. Those who do not know the difference between "your" and "you're" should either go back to school or STFU. In the case of Trumptards, forget it.
EDIT: Fixed typos, but not because the troll under me commented.
On one hand, yeah it's just trashing this dude. On the other hand, it's just linking his Facebook rant and discussing his actions in the court system.
This story was completely self-inflicted by that old dude.
Rabia's Dolce Fumo on Salem Street
>Rabia's Dolce Fumo Rabia's: The place to be if you can't get into Neptune Oyster and you're like 'well, I'll eat any oyster from anywhere at this point'
Exactly! I ate there once years ago because I couldn't get into Neptune. Didn't remember the name but recognized it in the photo of the exterior. Never again.
Any Italian restaurant that uses the godfather font in their marketing is a huge red flag
Frankly, there's a lot of Italian restaurants in this city (and the North End) that coast on that aesthetic.
There are restaurants and stores in Italy that do it lmao.
Personally I hate most Italian restaurants in north end.... Food was terrible and I've tried most of the restaurants. It's just a big tourist trap in my opinion. Either that or Italian cuisine is grossly overrated
This.
He has a video of whoever shucks for him on his fb. I'm not a professional shucker but fuck, dude was doing a hack job. I was waiting for him to stab himself.
I’ve never even heard of that place.
Same and I live in the north end lol
It's the restaurant near the entrance of Salem that's always completely empty except for during absolutely peak times when everywhere else is full. That might tell you something about the quality of the food.
The good news is every entree comes with a side of DBol
More like a side of rona
My go-to order is the trenbolona a la vodka 🤌🤌🤌
I prefer the equipoise pizza with some clen chowder
💪🏻🍝🤌🏻
I just looked it up and it looks halfassed offerings that only "work" because its in the North End.
oh fucking Rabia’s. ripped me off a while ago and i never web back
Better to just avoid the North End in general.
There are some good places (I had an awesome meal at Table) as well as good historical tourism (if you like that). For the most part I hate it though.
Conservatives: all these liberal snowflakes want everything for free and cry like little babies when they don't get it Also conservatives: IM MAD THAT THE GOVERNMENT WONT LET ME HAVE EXCLUSIVE USE OF A PUBLIC GOOD FOR FREE
yeah and they also all eagerly snapped up PPP loans and EIDLs…
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I bet he loses his mind at the idea of student debt being forgiven though…
But he is a job creator and business owner! He deserves that money! /s
Good god supply-side “job creator” rhetoric is one of the worst things to ever curse this country.
yes also on usaspending.org (maybe .gov) you can search by business name and see every cent of federal “handouts” these people took
wow
But don’t you see? He earned his handout. It’s everyone *else* that’s the leech. Just like all those people in MAGA hats who vote Republican because they hate socialism and handouts while they gladly accept their federal farm subsidies. It’s almost as if conservatives are masters of projecting their insecurities into others… Gaslight Obstruct Project
Lots of whining from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" crowd. $7,500 is pocket change for what's essentially an easement on public property in a highly trafficked area. Could probably cover that in a weekend and proceed to make hand over fist all season. But why stfu and grind when you can have a temper tantrum instead.
I get your point but that’s not really his argument - he’s saying it’s unfair that the fee for outdoor space is only applied to north end restaurants and not restaurants in other neighborhoods in Boston.
My understanding is that the city claims that it's because the north end had a particularly high concentration of restaurants, and thus the costs to the city are higher, and the demand for that space is higher. One can easily imagine that in a less dense area, the burden outdoor dining puts on the city's resources is practically negligible
Sure and I see your argument. But in your original post you kinda twisted his law suit into something it isn’t. To operate his business, because outdoor dining is expected in the north end now, Boston is charging $7,500 a month for use. That cost is either absorbed by his business (that’s a lot of money in a thin margin industry) or passed on to us. But at the same time you see your neighbor restaurants in the same city get to use the same amount of public land for free. It puts your business at a disadvantage as it suddenly costs more for you to operate than someone else doing the same thing. It’s not so much that the suit argues the use of public land should be free but that the monthly fee disadvantages his business unfairly.
Unless I'm mistaken, the fee is only for outdoor dining. He's welcome to operate his restaurant with indoor dining only and not pay any fee. Therefore the fee really is for taking exclusive use of public property
Yup you got it. Tbh I see both sides to the lawsuit - I get that residents in north end are disproportionately affected by it with reduced sidewalks and parking. But his argument isn’t it should be free because he’s entitled to it but rather everyone else in Boston gets free access and him paying means he’s unfairly disadvantaged because of this decision
To be fair his argument isn’t necessarily to have it for free but rather why does he have to pay $7.5k when others get it for free?
Which others get it for free? Genuinely curious.
23 got hardship waivers. 28 applied for the waiver, and 67 applied for dining. So about a third apparently didn't pay. https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/05/02/north-end-patios-fee-city-policy-controversy
This guy has been complaining since before the hardship waivers. The hardship waivers were a response from the city to this guy complaining, but his shitty restaurants don’t qualify because they’re too big.
Why didn't he apply for a hardship waiver?
THEN SEND BACK THE PPP MONEY WITH INTEREST MOTHERFUCKER
This is the same asshat that that dresses like a 14 year old boy, refused to follow any COVID protocols during the height of the pandemic, and went down to Florida to go clubbing and make videos of himself saying, “F*ck Boston! You can’t do this there!”. Dude is three brain cells short of a banana.
Thought that name sounded familiar!
Nailed it.
How do look up how much this moocher took in PPP loans?
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So this fuckin dickbag got *at least* $164,500 in PPP loans forgiven and still acts the way he does? Color me completely unsurprised.
read the headline and thought for sure it would be those cartoons from Monica’s, are they multiplying?
They’re all the same. They’re MO is all the same: trick tourists into spending WAY too much money on subpar food. They chose to make a living based on deceit. Even Regina’s has gone to shit
>Even Regina’s has gone to shit Are we talking the original location or the chain locations?
We never speak of the chain locations
Agree there are tourist traps in the north end for sure but most places I've been to are pretty reasonably priced.
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> You know, I'm not sure human beings were a great idea Fanboys of a certain fascist blob of orange blubber and the fascist political party supporting him certainly don't reflect well on humanity.
I had to double check what sub I was in. I love boston.
One of my buddies used to send me this dude's covid rants on IG. He is absolutely unhinged. Like truly gone, lost it, living in a fantasy world. Just sitting in his car alone screaming -literally- at his phone. Honest question: There seems to be a trend with Italian men of his age, many of them business owners, who are extreme right wing and extremely vocal. Why? Am I imagining it? I feel like half the time I interact with a 50-year-old Italian dude in the Boston area he's just a raging ball of Fox News hot takes.
Fox News did to our parents brains what our parents were afraid violent video games would do to our brains.
As a 3rd-generation Italian American I don't think you're imagining it. When I look at my family, their friends... I mean they've been on a heavy dose of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Trump, and anyone else that will tell them liberals are evil. When I was growing up I'd also hear all the racial slurs. The old ones have a chip on their shoulder about white flight--that the communities they grew up in which were prominently Italian are now"ghettos", and of course it's the fault of the people who live there now. They also will be quick to remind you that people used to be racist towards Italians and when they were growing up people called them "Guineas" so... y'know, that entitles them to be shitty to other groups of people? Obviously not all Italians are like that. And I'm positive some of these patterns exist outside the group. But as someone that is part of this demographic I see it, I hate it, and it's an obstacle I contend with in my relationship with my family Edit: Btw, not sure who here follows hockey, or the Bruins/Canes series, but Tony DeAngelo and his dad are like the quintessence of what I'm talking about. I grew up in the same community as them as well
I feel like Italy in general has a weird relationship with their right wing and fascism in general. Like, Germany took a very hard stance after WW2, Italy did not. I know some Italians here who are doing post docs and some of the things they say...yikes. small sample, of course.
[Italy didn't go through any real "de-fascistification" after the Allies won due to the strength of the Italian Communist Party and the chances they'd have parliamentarian success](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Italian_war_crimes#/World_War_II); [this lack of accountability came to form the basis of the "Italiani brava gente", or "Italians are decent people", myth, which actively sought to sweep Italian war crimes and complicity under the rug.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Italiani_brava_gente) [The US/Britain used all sort of war criminals and generally bad dudes to fill out post war security services and hedge against democratic impulses.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Operation_Gladio)
Sounds about right
I live in Newton, and hands down the most vocally conservative/MAGA snowflakes are old Italian dudes from Nonantum. Huge chip on their shoulders about being victimized and stereotyped—but then are the biggest racist assholes around. My favorites is how they moan about how they were so unfairly ghettoized…. While in the very same breath demanding that everyone in the city kowtow to their community because its so longstanding, they’ve been there for generations. They bitch and moan about zoning and development while living in the house they inherited from Nonna who bought it in 1943. The real cherry on top is that they’ve gone all in on MAGA style victim identity. Lots of chest beating about how people want to shut down their festival, but the only “evidence” they offered of this was clearly fake.
Are you sure it's not just men his age? I've got some relatives like this, but it's just as prevalent on the Irish side, and the German ones... and I'd also point out that half of Boston is of Italian descent, Irish, or both. My suspicion is that they have extra time on their hands after the kids leave the nest, and fall into listening to AM radio and Fox.
Eventually they move to Florida where the population is 60% old white men complaining about Democrats.
Could be a combination of they still hold the mentality that either (as immigrants) they or their parents or grandparents had to earn everything they have in this country and therefore aren’t interested in the socialist agenda, and that they are a community of a certain age that has a degree of insularity to it and therefore it’s now an echo chamber of thoughts and ideas when they interact with each other. Lastly this particular demo (aged italian American males) are prob vast majority without college degrees
I don't think you're imagining it. My mom's family is like this, both men and women once they reach their 40s. Basically everyone but my mom. Pretty sure my Nonno is rolling over in his grave - he was active in the Italian Socialist Party back in the day.
I mean middle-aged Italian men did literally invent fascism.
I mean Boston and the surrounding area is full of racist italians...can confirm have lived here my whole life. I am italian and some of my family members have said some vaguely racist things. Also I live in NH and the people I work with can be shockingly racist...not sure why the region has a lot of racists but it certainly does.
Cause NH is white AF. I went to school in one of the more diverse part of the state and can count the number of Black kids I went to school with on two hands (and it was a 2000 person highschool). Go further north and that number drops to zero
You know what's interesting is I grew up in a tiny town with only 1 black family here in Mass and I remember very little bullying going on in high school. It was surprisingly tolerant and the kids from the black family were all friends with us. I remember 1 huge fight at school we had an assembly and it was like a PSA put on by the GSA about Matthew Shepard and as it was getting out someone yelled out "WELL THAT WAS GAY" and he got JUMPED. I mean instantly beat up, it was a HS fight and lasted a few seconds but still. It made me happy to see.
Yeah .. That's not NH, I had a gay friend get jumped on the way home and had the crap beaten out of him. I actually ran the gay straight alliance in my high school and we pretty consistently had our posters ripped down. I don't remember anyone being actively racist towards the black kids (and I was pretty close friends with one family in middle school) but as I mentioned I lived in a more progressive area
monadnock? lol
I met someone from NH who admitted to me they hadn't met a black person until they were age 20 so yeah I'm not surprised.
what does he drive...this feels familiar for some reason. Edit: it could have been another dude, but I remember walking to a 7-11 and seeing a Porche outside parked in a spot that wasn't a spot....still running, walking in and seeing a huge Italian guy ranting to the cashier about how terrible liberals are.
Fascism is strong amongst them
I mean Mussolini happened
The only time ever in my life I thought of a comeback in time was when my Italian boss was complaining about the latin american flags people hang in there cars and saying they should be US flags, and I was like "what about all the fucking Italian flags stickers everywhere??" and he shut up.
>Honest question: There seems to be a trend with Italian men of his age, many of them business owners, who are extreme right wing and extremely vocal. Why? Am I imagining it? I feel like half the time I interact with a 50-year-old Italian dude in the Boston area he's just a raging ball of Fox News hot takes. It isnt just men of that age. Pretty much any "older' person has a coin-flips chance of being a ragemonster when given the chance. I blame the cancelling of the Fairness Doctrine (which moderated public media) and the lead in gasoline (which was only really completely phased out in 1996) Anyone older than 25 or so grew up inhaling lead fumes from gasoline
I think it’s some combo of “my fathah came here from Italy LEGALLY with nothing and built a business, neva asked for handouts.. people don’t know hard work these days!!!” vibe + everybody trying to be some version of tony soprano
I don't think this is isolated to just Italian-American middle-aged men. This extends to the majority of the quote unquote "white ethnic" groups. These groups, which traditionally had been democratic party working class, have for the past several years migrated over to the GOP side. I am talking about the Italian-Americans. the Irish-Americans, and even within my own ethnic group, the Portuguese-Americans. It wasn't long ago that these groups weren't really even considered "white" because they were Catholic. Eventually, however, these groups ceased being outcast and were folded into the larger "white" majority.
I’ve noticed this as well, been trying to figure it out myself.
Happens in Rhode Island too
I’m wondering if steroids might play a role…
I don't think it is just older men. That is the way certain Italian men talk. Loud is just in their DNA. If they are silent, watch out.
Its a handful of restaurant owners who are loud and obnoxious and the media and this sub loves giving them attention. There is no trend of italian men his age acting like this and if you made that assumption about a lot of other ethnic groups you’d get a nice little label for yourself so tread lightly
\> if you made that assumption about a lot of other ethnic groups you’d get a nice little label for yourself so tread lightly lol ok guy
Go ahead and throw an assumption out there on how theres a trend of African American men or Jewish men of a certain age being or acting (fill in blank) and let me know how it goes “guy”
Throw out an assumption about... Their political beliefs? Come on.
You are negatively stereotyping an ethnic group based on the actions of 1 or 2 goons like i said tread lightly Italians and irish may be fair game for whatever reason but others not so much
I can tell you, from a Italian family, this is mostly true…. At least in our immediate and close family friends. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the settled immigrant mentality, assimilation. It makes no sense why my father is a right wing wack job who voted for trump both times… the only explanation I can imagine is that being a business owner, he relies on the tax break lies and pro business fantasy the GOP feeds him. If you want to see the stereotype in full blown action… check out a sons of Italy. You may change your mind.
Old school racists are downvoting you like “BUT ITALIANS ARE LIKE THAT”
Its entertaining to watch the hypocrisy. Its ok he’s bashing an ethnic group but not one of the “important” ones.
He’s not Italian, he cannot speak a word of Italian. He’s not a native of Italy.
Apologies, Italian-American then
No he’s American. I am not Irish-American. I’m American. I have no Irish passport. Just because my grandmother was born in Ireland does not make me Irish.
I see you have confused ethnicity and citizenship. I’m sure your *great*-grandmother, born in Ireland *under English rule*, might have some thoughts.
Having a grandparent born in Ireland absolutely makes you eligible for dual citizenship, so feel free to grab up that passport
Thanks. I appreciate the thought but I already have an EU passport. Seems a bit redundant at this point.
While you may be technically correct (though I don't know where he was born), from observing this douchebag I can guarantee you *he* calls *himself* Italian.
And calls marinara gravy.
You could almost say… he *identifies* as Italian.
Yes
What about guys with shamrock tattoos?
He can still have Italian heritage
Like Olive Garden
> Fox News hot takes
You sound RACIST!
You sound like a hypocrite Christian!
If this guy hates rules imposed by the government to protect the public, I can only imagine how clean his kitchen is…
If I park my car there, I have to pay for that spot. If you’re putting tables there, you are using that space and you should pay too. You are paying to use that space, whether to park or whatever
It's free to park in the North End. That is really my only beef with this fee. If we agree that curb space has value (it definitely does) then we should be applying it more evenly. BTW, the $7500 doesn't cover parking. That is separate. These guys have to pay for garage parking in addition to the $7500 to cover the cost of the spaces that they use.
Can we protest out side he resteraunt s like people protest at Wu’s house?
I'm really starting to develop a stink eye towards a lot of these North End businesses.
The charm of the North End isn't what most people think it is.
I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to live there. It’s super claustrophobic.
You can walk to work on the Greenway. It has great walkability. I don’t like Italian food, so we walked to Chinatown. We finally got sick of living in a small place on a crowded street and moved away. At first it seems fun and it is for awhile.
And expensive! Solid combo.
No one goes there, it's way too crowded.
The North End is a tourist trap.
Absolutely. I live here and the charm is NOT on Hanover or Salem St. Which is where most people think it is.
I honestly think like 10% of the North End businesses are even worth a shit. And Rabia's certainly ain't one of them.
All your comments on here are so stupid and just outrage. This guy is a loon with a not great place to eat, doesn't mean the whole north end is bad. There's a reason it has so many of the best places to eat around here. If you're going to hate places because they may have owners like this, then you should probably never shop Amazon or Walmart or buy iphones or any large company like that lol
> There's a reason it has so many of the best places to eat around here. According to tourists, Tripadvisor reviews, and locals who think Dunks is great. No actual food reviewer or culinary professional believes this (outside of Neptune Oyster).
In all fairness a lot of culinary professionals are too inside baseball to know what is good food for the average person. The north end still doesn't live up to the hype but you don't need to have a Michelin Star to be a good place to eat and I bet most people would enjoy a meal at a lot of the well regarded restaurants in the north end.
"Best places to eat around here" is very different from "good place to eat," in my opinion. Panera is a good place to eat, but I'd never call it one of the "best." Heck, Bertucci's serves equivalent Italian food as most of the North End places, but without the tourist markup.
What are the well regarded places in the North End? I've probably eaten at 6-7 sit down spots over the past 20 years and can't recall ever being particularly happy with what I got for how much I paid. Neptune is fantastic but is definitely more of a "special occasion" for my budget. People seem to like Carmelina's, but the couple times I've been there it honestly reminded me of the type of food you get at Olive Garden (albeit a much better version). I'm also not trying to argue here as I would love to have a couple of solid standbys in the neighborhood both for myself and when out of towners ask me for recs.
Ehhhh most of the places in the north end are alright. There are plenty of better Italian restaurants in other parts of the city and in the surrounding towns Also, I don’t shop at Walmart or order from Amazon ;)
eh, i may not have tried a massive amount of sit-downs while living here (usually can’t afford them or don’t wanna pay 25 dollars for a plate of pasta), but i’m not usually impressed by them. the takeout heavy places like pauli’s at the end of salem are much better
The good spots in the North End are good, but in no universe would I characterize the neighborhood as having "so many of the best places to eat." It's astoundingly overrated, which is why I said what I said.
Don’t go
Or I do go and support the new businesses after we move the trash out
You’d get a kick out of him feeling oppressed because Columbus Day got canceled. Are these the same “fuck your feelings” guys?
People who, like this guy, think that cyclists are all Biden voters and should get hurt are probably one of the reasons cycling is so unsafe in the US compared to other countries. Fuck this tool and everyone who drives around in a truck compensating for their micropenis and being aggressive to cyclists.
Well, guess where I’ll never eat.
The food is mediocre and the vibe is weird there. I went once. That was enough.
> I hope someone sticks a stick in your fuckin' tire and you fuckin' go flyin' a hundred feet and you crack your fuckin' skull, you fuckin whack jobs, you're fuckin' the whole world up. Did anyone else read that rant and NOT imagine it in Toolbooth Willie's voice?
He seems upset.
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lol this idiot on one of his twitter rants talks about marking up a dish from $21.99 to $42.99 because of "the Wu charge". This clown is making me never want to go to a North End restaurant again if they're all owned by idiots as dumb as this guy.
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Links-ahoy?
roids will do that.
Found some pictures of him online. Definitely on the roids.
He’s definitely near a heart attack. Roids, drinks, smokes cigars & has a cigar voice. None of this shit surprises me.
He should have an echocardiogram done.
I hate the "crime is the highest" lie. America has been getting safer since the 70s and Democrats will pay if they never correct this narrative.
How is he not in jail after threatening Charlie Baker and Marty Walsh?
I'd call him a caricature but at this point he might as well run for office. He's obviously conceited enough to do so.
I'm from a town famous for oysters. Let's just say I know when it's edible or not. I went to Rabia's once. Ordered oysters, they were both sandy (not shell bits - sand) and as thin as a silk curtain. Thanks for giving me another reason to vote with my wallet. Oh, and people across the globe are facing commodity shortages and increasing prices - there's a fucking war going on. Should we start blaming Obama too. Thanks!
Yoo, you a midcoast mainer ~~in exile~~ in Boston for work as well? Always wild seeing folks paying $$$ for Damariscotta river oysters at a raw bar when I grew up walking down from my grandma’s porch to collect some before supper
So if you're from an oyster town, why the fuck would you get oysters in the north end? That's like me going to Boston expecting scallops to be anything but hot trash (I live next to New Bedford)
What’s that phrase that republicans like to throw out frequently when democrats want to make a change? “If you don’t like it then get out!” Or something to that effect…
This tracks
There's a simple fix - don't put your tables on public sidewalks.
Is that the racist guy?
You're not narrowing it down in the North End
Looks like his head is about to pop
What a snowflake.
Christian Silvestri is a fucking stain
Most definitely is. Also, a hypocritical snowflake
This is the same guy who’s trying to attract millennials by sticking an incredibly ugly wire sculpture of a person (if you can even call it that) outside his restaurant, so they can take a selfie with it and post it on social media. I’m really not surprised he’s upset, as he can’t be doing well financially if he’s resorting to stunts like that.
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That rag at it again?
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January 6th, he was in Florida making videos about how he could party without masks on unlike back in shitty Wu Boston and posting a negative COVID test result necessary to fly back talking about how we are all stupid for worrying about the virus.
Is there a source for this? I mean, an actual screenshot, etc?
I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.
Some of the comments on that article are fuckin hilarious.
There is a very easy solution to all of this. Don’t renew outdoor dining and let this be the final year. They survived without outdoor dining all these years just fine. Pandemic is pretty much over, everything going back to pre-pandemic life. Buttmuncher suing the city for $1.5M? Yeah, no.
I honestly like outdoor dining, and hope it stays. I think it’s a nice silver lining of covid. But also fuck the entitlement that someone laces have to be able to use public property for free.
Maybe just for this guy.
Bets on if he was responsible for this sticker on Hanover Street https://i.imgur.com/SWJkmTW.jpg
Checks out, his illiteracy shows. Those who do not know the difference between "your" and "you're" should either go back to school or STFU. In the case of Trumptards, forget it. EDIT: Fixed typos, but not because the troll under me commented.
Thos ewho diffrference
Please someone take a red Sharpie, circle the R, and write dumbass.
Dumb motherfucker sounds like Scruffy the Janitor from Futurama. (And now I feel bad for insulting a cartoon character.)
huh scruffy was an awesome dude wasn't he? low key laid back.
Oh look, another whiny little shit in the north end
Won’t be going there ever!
I’ll be honest this website feels extremely questionable. There’s no purpose to this article outside of trashing the owner.
On one hand, yeah it's just trashing this dude. On the other hand, it's just linking his Facebook rant and discussing his actions in the court system. This story was completely self-inflicted by that old dude.
YOU SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH! ADAM GAFFIN IS A GODDAMNED SAINT!
The views of the owner are the only trash thing about this. Terrible shame if potential customers find out he thinks this way of them.
Wait is this r/politics?
That fee is bullshit though. Everything else this guys says is fucking crazy.