Dallas restaurant owner receives backlash after a viral video alleges racial discrimination

Downtown Dallas restaurant Ravenna Italian Grille & Bar survived pandemic-related shutdowns in 2020 and went unscathed when several nearby businesses were damaged during protests last year. But the restaurant’s future is now uncertain after a TikTok video alleging recent racial discrimination triggered a social media backlash last week. Owner Milan Karadzovski, who opened Ravenna in 2007, says he made his restaurant’s Facebook page private after it received negative comments and reviews. His Yelp reviews are also paused after an overwhelming number of negative reviews in just a few hours.

He shut off the restaurant’s phone, because he says he was bombarded with calls from people calling him a racist. He says callers even threatened to burn his restaurant down and made death threats. His blood pressure got so high that he went to an emergency room. Business has also rapidly declined, Karadzovski says. One woman canceled her food order because she watched the video while sitting in his dining room. She abruptly paid for her drink and left. “I can’t give you my money!” she wrote on the receipt. “Stop the racism!” Karadzovski says he is worried about his safety, and he will “probably” have to permanently close. The incident happened on July 30. But the TikTok video gained traction on Wednesday when it appeared on several Instagram accounts. The video made by Cierra Wright, a makeup artist from Houston, shows her family turned away from Ravenna because one of the men is wearing a tank top, which is against the restaurant’s dress code. The dress code does allow women to wear tank tops, so the man switches shirts with a woman, and the group heads back to the restaurant. But Karadzovski still refuses to allow them inside. He also sticks up his middle finger at the family in front of a dining room full of customers. The group walks away, calling Karadzovski a racist.