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Dec. 7, 2020 - Dennis Prager Show
07:17
This Southern California Restaurant Owner is Taking a Stand
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And I have a fighter.
You all know my love of courage.
Without it, there is no chance for good to prevail on Earth.
Tony Roman is the man.
He's the owner of Basilico's...
So let's see.
Pasta e vino.
We were even giving you The Godfather.
I mean...
By the way, is there something like wrong about that Italian guy comes on the show and we play The Godfather theme?
You know, it's almost like the Italian national anthem these days.
I'll tell you one thing, we're with you on Columbus.
Oh, okay.
Well, you know, that's another stand that we took.
When they tore down the statues, I put up a drink on our menu, saying raising our own statue to an Italian hero.
And again, people's heads exploded, and I enjoy doing it.
So he has kept his restaurant open, which is all...
I've asked restaurants to do.
Why are you listening?
It shows you the power of fear.
I mean, it's not...
When Tony Roman is not here, because I don't want to take his time, I want to reflect with you some very, very, very big conclusions that I've drawn about humans as a result of what I've seen in America the last six months.
Maybe next hour.
And applying it to the terrible situations in Russia and Germany in the mid-20th century.
All right, anyway, back to Tony Roman.
So let's see.
So no masks.
And this is meant seriously.
Has anybody that you know gotten seriously ill as a result of their experience in your restaurant?
There's been nothing traced back to the Basilico.
There's no contact tracing of anything.
And your workers have been showing up every day?
This has actually been one of our healthiest years that we've ever had.
Right.
You know, we've had years in the past where an employee would get a flu and we'd make him stay home.
You know, we would do that anyway, right?
So, but yeah, when we took our stand against the masks, that's when the left really went.
It went insane.
And the supporters of the tiny dictator, you know, here in our state, especially on the celebrity side, we got hit from everywhere, you know, the shamers.
And, you know, based on that, we started to receive death threats, people calling to threaten, you know, basically to burn the restaurant down.
They want to follow me to my car, put a bullet in the back of my head and everything else.
Yeah, that's the tolerant left that we always talk about.
Right.
There's no such thing as tolerant left.
If you're a tolerant left, you're a liberal.
That's it.
So, this has been a success for you?
Have people...
Flocked to your restaurant?
You know at first when I took the stand it wasn't a business thing like I said I didn't think about the business at all and I tell people who considers taking a stand you are blessed to be in a position to have a platform of a business to be on the front lines of this and take a stand not for your business but for for America, right?
And so when I took our stand, even my young staff, they thought it was nuts.
They said, Tony, this is going to be bad for business.
I didn't care.
I didn't care at all.
If my space was a plot of dirt, I'd do the same exact thing that I'm doing now.
And initially, a lot of people didn't show up.
We were empty.
People would come pick up to-go food and delivery, and that was it.
But over time, they started showing up.
But when the hate started coming towards us and that was publicized, the supporters started to come from everywhere.
I mean, we have people driving from Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Utah, Oregon, Washington, LA all the time.
Ventura, Sherman Oaks, they're coming from everywhere.
And it's because at the restaurant, it's not...
Yeah, sure, you come down, you have great food.
It's Italian home-cooked style food.
It's my mother's food.
She created all the recipes.
But it is a movement now, and people want to be part of the battle.
People come down there, and you should see the energy.
It's incredible.
Patriots everywhere.
They're swarming the place.
And I'm meeting great people.
I'm definitely coming.
I mean, I just got to finish my book.
And as I told you, I publicly announce the day I hand in the book, January 31, where the next day we're coming to you for a celebration.
And a living martyr is coming, which is a very big deal.
I appreciate that.
Because he's somewhat of a hermit.
That would be amazing.
And I want to say something else.
That was a joke.
He's not a hermit.
No, no, he's not a hermit.
He looks like a hermit.
He's not a hermit.
He's been a gentleman.
He's been very helpful.
No kidding.
He's awesome.
But I want to say, too, that when business owners feel fear about taking a stand, first of all, if you're going to take the stand, do it fully.
Do it fully.
Don't do half measures.
No restrictions, right?
None.
Go back to pre-margin.
So here's the question.
Everybody listening is waiting for this question, including me.
So here it goes.
Why are you almost alone among restaurant owners?
That's what I was going to get to next.
Because the fear people feel, right?
And I tell them, when you feel that fear...
Think about the real heroes.
Think about the founders of this country who sacrificed everything to gift you the precious freedoms and liberties that you have.
And think of the soldiers who have fought and died, who have taken real shrapnel and bullets, right?
In defense of those things.
And you're going to surrender all of that over a mask mandate and a pandemic of fear?
No.
You have to...
When you're afraid of losing a liquor license or a business license or receiving a citation or a fine, think about them and honor them.
Because if you surrender those things, you are dishonoring them.
And I think if people have that in mind, they will feel the courage that I feel.
And it's as simple as that.
God, we are such kindred spirits.
I've always said how Normandy has affected my life.
Going to Normandy Beach.
Seeing thousands of guys lying dead at the age of 20. There's nowhere I'd rather go than there.
I cannot wait to make that trip.
I said, wait a minute.
So I'm going to be scared of Gavin Newsom?
These guys attacked Nazi machine guns?
And I'm going to be frightened of Fauci and Newsom and Pelosi?
You've got to be kidding.
Or Garcetti?
These are nothings.
And think about this.
The lockdown started today.
The new lockdown, right?
What is today?
The anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
That's right.
Well said.
Right?
Think about that.
I do think about that.
That's why you're here.
Thank you.
Appreciate that.
I want the line.
People should call for reservations, you think?
Well, we only reserve one table in the restaurant.
It's like the Godfather table.
Six or more.
It's first come, first serve?
It's first come, first serve.
But people have a great time waiting outside.
Basilico's Restaurant, Orange County, California.
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