Heckled Philadelphia pizzeria owner: "People are telling me there are stories that we left the Astros malnourished, that was not the case at all" 

Two Philadelphia-based restaurants, namely Angelo's Pizza and Mike's BBQ, were on the receiving end of severe backlash after apparently refusing to cater to the Houston Astros ahead of Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday.

The heckling reached such a point that Astros fans prank-called Angelo's Pizza nonstop, with some hecklers even tracking down the owner, Danny DiGiampietro's license plate. A few reckless fans even threatened to bomb his store, according to the New York Post.

DiGiampietro, however, refuted claims that he refused to feed the Astros. He said the only reason he could not cater to them was because it was so late in the night.

"The Astros reached out to our business email asking for catering for after Game 3. I let her know we couldn’t do it… A sweetheart of a lady, she was very complimentary, and they wanted 10 pizzas.

"We have no problem cooking for anybody. The problem was it was just so late. I have to be here at 3, 4 in the morning to bake all the bread. There was just no way, so it didn’t work out."

“People are telling me there are stories that we left the Astros malnourished and all that, and that was not the case at all. There was no nefarious intention behind it and there was no ill will.”

Danny DiGiampietro also mentioned how Houston fans partook in a TikTok challenge, where one had to toss cheesesteaks at his face for $250. Furthermore, he said his female employees were harassed over the phone.

"There are TikTok challenges to throw cheesesteaks in my face, you get $250… The girls [working at Angelos] were saying that people with southern accents were calling the phones, telling us to ‘eat s–t’ and ordering pizzas."

The proprietor of Angelo's Pizza stated that he was not willing to apologize to Houston Astros fans for not welcoming the team after business hours.

“I’m not apologizing, because the Phillies are my team and if they wanted food at 11 o’clock at night, there is a 100 percent guarantee I would’ve done it. That’s my team, they are my people,” he said. “But to go completely out of our way, I haven’t slept… there was just no way we could do it."

"PHILS IN 4." - @Angelo's Pizzeria

Owner of Mike's BBQ, Michael Strauss, clarifies Houston Astros catering situation

World Series - Houston Astros v Philadelphia Phillies - Game Five

Mike's BBQ, another Southern Philadelphia-based eatery, also made headlines for not serving food to the Astros.

Michael Strauss, the owner of Mike's BBQ, cleared the air, saying that the Astros had reached out requesting a catered meal set-up with Latin cuisine. However, the eatery serves only American barbequed dishes.

As per Michael, the Astros’ dietician Lisa Clarke was looking for a "Venezuelan place" but reached out to him by mistake.

Mike's BBQ also took to Instagram for further clarification, writing:

"YO!!! Hey Philly & Houston !! A local news org took a recent post about not feeding the Astro’s as a “refusal” while we are die hard Philly fans. We don’t refuse serving anyone. We fed the Braves twice, we serve the Mets, the list goes on."

"It was a funny post as the Astros contacted the wrong restaurant. We did help them contact the right one. Both parties on this text knew that. It was very funny saying we weren’t going to feed them. Which we couldn’t anyway. We don’t make Latin food. Nor were we open those days. That was their wish."

"Every team should have the opportunity to try local cuisine or cuisine of their choosing when they are on the road. I'm happy that it fired up Philly fans. I thought it would bring lots of laughs. However, I don’t want people to think we refuse to feed anyone ... Hope this clears this up. Cheers! And, of course! Go Phillies!!!"

The Astros defeated the Phillies 3-2 in Game 5, and they are now one win away from taking home the Commissioner's Trophy . The Phillies need to win the remaining two games in Houston.