Wrong order: Surprise Vance visit to Primanti’s goes less than smoothly

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh’s iconic Primanti Brothers restaurant chain is generally ahead of the marketing game, grabbing media attention with promotions such as the one where Pirates fans with mustaches were offered free sandwiches when Paul Skenes played in the All-Star Game in July.

On Saturday, the chain known for its sandwiches with fries and cole slaw tucked into the middle didn’t have such a great day on the public relations front.

Video clips showing Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance appearing to be turned away from the Primanti’s location in North Versailles quickly spread across social media, triggering outrage.

The company put out a statement on social media site X to try to douse the controversy.

“Primanti’s prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years,” the statement said. “Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us.”

According to the Primanti’s statement, Mr. Vance’s arrival came as a surprise.

“Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff,” the statement said. “However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property.”

Primanti’s conceded that the interaction got off to a bumpy start.

“Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the Secret Service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, and we are glad that it was resolved quickly.”

Republican Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco did not seem inclined to take a charitable view of the exchange at the North Versailles restaurant, putting out a statement on X criticizing Primanti’s.

“While Senator Vance was extremely gracious today about being denied entry to Primanti’s today, this statement is NOT accurate,” Mr. DeMarco posted. “Senator Vance was denied entry and he and his team were NOT welcomed into the restaurant after the initial ‘confusion.’ ”

Mr. DeMarco said Primanti’s perhaps “isn’t being told the truth by their Manager who threatened to call the police if he entered. Senator Vance spoke with and took photos with patrons outside in the parking lot but there were no interactions inside other than him going in to pay for everyone’s food.”

Mr. DeMarco’s statement said that someone told him they had contacted the restaurant and ordered a sandwich for Mr. Vance that was waiting for him when the motorcade arrived.

The Pittsburgh chain has been a favorite of politicians for years, although photos of candidates and officials actually taking a bite from Primanti’s massive sandwiches are more rare. It’s hard to look dignified when digging in.

In August, campaign staffers from the Harris-Walz operation picked up bags of food from the company’s Moon restaurant and delivered them to the buses carrying the candidates around Western Pennsylvania.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton swung by the Primanti’s in Market Square in 2016.

And GOP presidential candidate John McCain went to the one in the Strip District in 2008, chatting up customers as he waited for his order.

Political candidates visiting businesses is a great way to look like regular folks who appear to be mingling with the masses, but it can be a tightrope for businesses to be welcoming without offending at least part of their customer base.

In 2018, the Post-Gazette reported that Canonsburg-based Sarris Candies took some heat from people on both sides of the political equation for hosting a visit by Donald Trump Jr. And a visit earlier this month by Kamala Harris to Penzeys Spices in the Strip triggered some calls for boycotts of the small chain.