'How I Met Your Mother' star Drew Droege 'reprimanded' by LA eatery manager for kissing another man
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Drew Droege took to social media to express his ‘disgust’ over a recent incident at Echo Park, California restaurant. The ‘Bright Colors and Bold Patterns’ actor alleges he was "reprimanded" over kissing another man by the manager. He wrote on his Facebook post that he found "food and service" great at El Compadre, but "was really sad" over what followed after.
"Finishing up our second drinks, we had our arms around each other and kissed a few times," shared Droege. "A manager approached our table and said something to the affect of, 'you guys can't do that here.' We were confused at first, but then he very firmly stated, 'this is a family restaurant.'" Baffled by the manager’s behavior as the fellow diners were mostly straight couples "doing the same thing we were doing," the ‘New Girl’ actor then asked him if had anyone complained to him. The employee, however, didn’t reply to his question.
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"He threw his hands in front of us and said, 'I don't care if you're the President of the United States, we don't allow your behavior here,'" Droege recalled their conversation in similar posts on other outlets. He tweeted, “Last night at @ELCOMPADRE_DTLA Echo Park I was reprimanded by a mgr for kissing another man. At 6:30pm in the middle of our second drink. Told “this is a family restaurant”& “we don’t allow that behavior here”. I will never be back. I encourage you all to find another place too.”
Last night at @ELCOMPADRE_DTLA Echo Park I was reprimanded by a mgr for kissing another man. At 6:30pm in the middle of our second drink. Told “this is a family restaurant”& “we don’t allow that behavior here”. I will never be back. I encourage you all to find another place too.
— Drew Droege (@drewdroege) December 13, 2022
El Compadre released an updated statement on their official Instagram account on Wednesday night, December 14, where they informed the manager ‘has been fired’, "We do believe El Compadre to be a family restaurant, and coming into our restaurant is like coming into our home. In our home we believe in love and equality and the fact that one of our employees made someone feel unsafe is not acceptable to us." It further read, “We deeply regret how our manager handled this situation. We are dedicated to showing our commitment to all our of our customers regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or status,” reports People.
Droege later shared the restaurant’s apology message on Instagram and captioned it, "Thank you everyone for all the support and love."