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While having a meal at the Newark airport in New Jersey, New York Times columnist, David Brooks, was annoyed with the cost of the food and posted a picture of his alleged $78 meal and criticized the American economy.
Brooks' tweet went viral and it was soon found out that the restaurant was a black-owned establishment named 1911 Smoke House Barbecue.
The restaurant themselves took to Facebook to take a shot at Brooks by stating that more than 80% of the meal cost was the bar tab. They later released a D. Brooks meal mocking the columnist.
Netizens rolled their eyes at Brooks' Newark airport meal and started computing the actual meal prices, only to arrive at the conclusion that the alcohol was to blame. This was made into a meme.
David Brooks trolled for Newark airport meal complaint
David Brooks' September 21 tweet catapulted into virality, amassing over 29.9 million views, at the time of writing this article.
The tweet showcased a picture of his meal, which looked like a normal burger and fries meal, alongside a glass of alcoholic beverage that looked like scotch or bourbon.
Brooks tweeted:
"This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible."
1911 Smoke House Barbeque was identified as the restaurant where Brooks had his meal. An article written about the columnist's Newark airport meal by NJ.com came to the attention of the restaurant, which on the very same day as Brooks' tweet, posted the reality of the situation on Facebook.
This post was also linked to the community notes that were attached to the post. The restaurant said:
"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 next day, 1911 Smoke House Barbeque put out another Facebook post, thanking David Brooks for the free publicity. The account stated that the X comments were hilarious and advised David to use their hashtags.
They even added a new menu item in honor of Brooks, the "D Brooks Special". A burger fries meal and a double shot of whiskey for $17.78 instead of Brooks' $78.
Netizens immediately rolled their eyes at David Brooks' tweet. People claimed that the same meal from the same establishment had only set them back $17, therefore establishing that most of the money came from the drinks. Users wanted to know how many drinks the columnist had at the Newark airport.
Netizens pointed out that not everyone would actually spend their money on an expensive airport meal. The post also led to a plethora of hilarious memes where users posted images of affordable food alongside an expensive drink, jokingly claiming that the meal set them back a lot, just like Brooks.
1911 Smoke House Barbeque is a black-owned business. According to the New Jersey Community Capital website, the restaurant in Trenton is owned by Maurice Hallett.
The restaurant was established in 2015 but was forced to shut down due to Covid. However, a $20,000 loan from the Trenton Small Business Emergency Loan Fund Program allowed him to successfully reopen after the pandemic.
