News/Commentary

NYT columnist apologizes after restaurant he snidely tweeted about brings receipts: ‘Keep drinking buddy’

September 23, 2023 | | Print Article

New York Times columnist David Brooks seriously regrets his poorly thought-out social media post complaining about the cost of his tab for a meal at a Newark Airport eatery to make a point about the state of the economy because it backfired big time, forcing him to choke down a helping of crow.

Brooks, whose haughty harangues have been a fixture at the Times since long before the newspaper went full-blown “woke,” snapped a shot of his burger and fries alongside a glass containing a half-empty drink which he posted to X, formerly Twitter, and opined that the excessive cost of his bite to eat is a perfect example of why Americans are feeling sour about Bidenomics.

“This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible,” wrote Brooks.

The pompous writer’s tweet went viral and before long, a community note was attached to his post with a link to the Facebook page for the restaurant, 1911 Smokehouse BBQ which corrected the record with an embarrassing fact check.

Turns out the bulk of Brooks’ hefty tab was for the booze that he was swilling along with his cheeseburger.

(Screenshot: Facebook)

“Looks like someone was knocking back some serious drinks – Bar tab was almost 80% and he’s complaining about the cost of his meal keep drinking buddy – we get paid off everything,” the eatery wrote.

Brooks was also roasted by X users with his post blowing up with over 36 million views as of Friday night and getting thousands of comments.

The restaurant put out a social post mocking Brooks with the price tag for the burger and fries being $17.78 with the rest of the tab belonging to the liquid spirits that he sucked down during his visit.

In another Facebook post, 1911 Smokethouse wrote: “The comments on Twitter are hilarious- thanks Dave Brooks for the free publicity- next time use our hashing #Youcantbeatourmeat or prices.”

Brooks, who to his credit didn’t delete the tweet, addressed his poorly received “joke” in a Friday interview, saying that it was a reaction to what he called “sticker shock” over the steep tab.

“But the problem with the tweet — which I wrote so stupidly — was that it made it seem like I was oblivious to something that is blindingly obvious: that an upper-middle-class journalist having a bourbon at an airport is a lot different than a family living paycheck to paycheck,” he said.

“I was insensitive. I screwed up. I should not have written that tweet. I probably should not write any tweets … I made a mistake. It was stupid,” Brooks added.

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Chris Donaldson
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