Tampa Restaurant Owner Sticking With Ban On Children

TAMPA, FL. - The owner of a Tampa pizza restaurant says he’s sticking with his controversial ban on children being allowed in his business.

Owner Troy Taylor says he doesn't hate kids, but he won't allow any in his craft beer and pizza restaurant Hampton Station. Taylor placed a small sign on the restaurant’s front door, “No Children” on Oct. 24.

However, he is trying to determine whether it is costing him business.

“It's hard to tell the impact yet; business has been steady, but we also have other factors involved: We are currently coming into (snowbird) season, there is a local killer still on the loose, etc. So we probably won't be able to gauge the effects until we have a couple of months data under our belt,” Taylor said.

Hampton Station is located in the Seminole Heights neighborhood that has been terrorized by three random and unsolved shooting deaths last month. Tampa police have saturated the neighborhood looking for clues to solve the homicides. Police say the three shootings are related, but Police Chief Brian Dugan has been reluctant to describe a possible suspect as a serial killer.

Taylor's ban applies to small children. The restaurant is close to busy Nebraska Avenue and could pose a danger for unsupervised kids, a restaurant employee said recently.

"We have had parents come in and they were not supervising their kids," said the employee, who did not want to be identified.

Taylor said an incident last month prompted him to initiate the ban. He said some kids were endangering themselves and others. The rule applies to everybody because Taylor said he doesn't want to single out parents.

The backlash to the ban on social media was swift, while others endorsed the policy. The reaction on the restaurant’s Yelp page prompted the website to place the page under an “active cleanup alert.”

“This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news,” Yelp said.

“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer’s personal consumer experience with the business.”

Before Yelp began its cleanup efforts, posters offered their opinions on the ban.

"I saw today a sign displayed on the front door " No Children". Really!!! This isn't some dive, it's a neighborhood pizza place. Yes they serve beer but so does many restaurants. Amazing," a poster on Yelp said.

Another poster said: "Kids have been banned. Shame because used to be one of our favorites. Won't be back with or without our well behaved youngster!" said Lisa G. from Tampa.

Another poster had a different view. Dan M. from Seminole Heights wrote: "I was going to give them a 4 but since the place is now kid free; it's bumped up to a 5!"

Image via Hampton Station Facebook page