Milwaukee taco joint apologizes for being too busy to serve Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo is easy to miss. Surely, there are tons of Greek Freaks walking around Milwaukee. It’s not like his blend of size and skill is so rare, even in an NBA full of 7-footers, that he’s an internationally recognized superstar at age 23. And it’s definitely not like he just won Game 4 for the Milwaukee Bucks with a last-minute tip-in or anything. He’s just another guy trying to get some tacos.
So, it’s understandable that, in the hours after his heroics tied their first-round playoff series, Milwaukee’s BelAir Cantina made him wait with the rest of the Dudes Who Didn’t Just Save The Bucks:
At @BelAirCantina on water street and just watched @Giannis_An34 wait for a table for 10 minutes and no one helped him so he left… Dude just won Milwaukee a playoff game! Get him some service pic.twitter.com/hcjsJfThiA
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
That’s right. A little over an hour after he scored 27 points against the Boston Celtics, a little over a mile from where his tip-in with five seconds left breathed life back into the Bucks, Antetokounmpo wanted some tacos. Only, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a manager informed him that they were too busy to find him a seat right away. After waiting some time, Giannis left, taco-less.
According to Twitter user @MoSokanhe, who was at the scene, customers were frantically trying to give up their seats to get Antetokounmpo a table, as you’d expect in Milwaukee. But Giannis, a true man of the people, did not scream, “Can your man get some tacos for being a basketball god?” He left.
Lol I legit told the servers that we would get up for him so he could sit…they were completely oblivious smh
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
Lol I kid you not, as I walked out the cops showed up because other patrons of the restaurant who were at the game were so upset he didn't get seated. Weirdest experience…
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
A bunch of us were willing to give up our table. Whole thing was very odd…
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
Oh yeah. It got pretty heated actually. A few patrons started yelling for someone to get him a table
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
Lol I kid you not, people were trying to do that
— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) April 22, 2018
Giannis then went up the street for pizza:
Thanks Giannis for joining us after a huge win today!! #Bucksin6 #fearthedeer #greekfreak
Posted by DiModa Pizza & Hotspot on Sunday, April 22, 2018
Realizing the error of their ways — turning away the best thing to happen to Bucks basketball since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar without even offering a bag full of free Zihuatanejo Shrimp and Ninja Pig tacos — BelAir Cantina tried to make the best of a bad situation, offering to hold a table for him after Thursday’s Game 6 in Milwaukee and even provide free tacos for Bucks fans if they can win in six.
We are very sorry we weren’t able to seat Giannis Antetokounmpo in as timely of a manner as we would have hoped. The…
Posted by BelAir Cantina on Sunday, April 22, 2018
That didn’t stop fans from flooding BelAir Cantina’s Yelp page with negative reviews. Thankfully, for the restaurant’s sake, Antetokounmpo doesn’t appear to be harboring any ill will for the taco joint, since his girlfriend later posted a picture of a smiling Giannis thanking BelAir Cantina for its support.
Its all good, much love for you guys ❤️ also thanks to all of the concerned fans I appreciate your support @BelAirCantina pic.twitter.com/gBKSV3CTGJ
— Mariah Danae (@mariahdanae15) April 23, 2018
It’s a good thing, too, because after fellow All-Star Kevin Durant told ESPN of the Greek Freak earlier on Sunday, “He’s not going to stay in Milwaukee if he’s not having fun playing the game,” we know where the first fingers would have pointed if he ever did leave the only NBA city he’s known. Because waiting for tacos in Milwaukee when you’re Bucks legend Giannis Antetokounmpo is decidedly not fun.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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