San Francisco restaurant owner John Konstin is certainly NOT feeling the bern, or perhaps he feels BERNED, after a recent visit from 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Konstin, owner of the popular John's Grill on Union Square, says that Senator Sanders came in with his wife and was extremely "cranky" and "rude" to the employees.
John’s Grill, opened in 1908, was famously used as a backdrop in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.
“It was all very nice, except for cranky Bernie. He was just rude, not friendly.” Konstin said, “I think he was hungry and just didn’t want to be a politician. He lost my vote.”
Sanders was in town last week for the annual Democrat National Committee’s (DNC) summer meeting when he and members of his campaign reportedly dropped into the 111-year-old eatery on Thursday evening.
In addition to hosting Sanders, Konstin welcomed a “big party” with Californa Democrats Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Secretary of State Alex Padilla. The larger dinner was headed up by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who the restaurant owner referred to as “pure class.”
In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, a spokesperson for John’s Grill said it is unlike Konstin to speak ill of patrons and thus the Vermont senator had to have been in a “terrible mood.”
The spokesperson said, “Anyone in the public eye needs to understand when it’s time to order room service."