‘Soup Nazi’ restaurant changes name after outcry, vandalism before Washington opening

A nod to a “Seinfeld” reference didn’t go over as well as a Washington restaurant owner had hoped, local media reports say, as some found it offensive rather than funny.

Andrew Ho, owner of a restaurant soon to open in Everett, has altered The Soup Nazi Kitchen’s name this week after it sparked outcry in the community, The Everett Herald reported.

“It created too many problems and my neighbors were getting scared,” Ho, 46, told the newspaper. “It was a safety issue.”

While the business has yet to open, the name had already inspired protests and even vandalism, KIRO reported.

Outcry at ‘The Soup Nazi Kitchen’

The sign went up Tuesday over the downtown restaurant’s door, featuring the name and an illustration of an elderly woman holding a whip, The Herald reported. The name was met with a wave of disapproval from community leaders soon after.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin released a statement about the restaurant in a Facebook post Wednesday.

“I’ve been made aware of a new business in Everett whose name is concerning,” he wrote. “We strongly urge and prefer that our businesses not use hateful, culturally-insensitive, derogatory or offensive wording or images in their signage or business materials.”

Franklin said the city was unable to do anything about the name, citing “recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions” that have “restricted the city’s authority to regulate the wording of signs and largely prohibits the city from banning signs based on the hateful or offensive wording.”

But the mayor assured residents that “Everett is a safe city and strives to be inclusive and welcoming for all residents and visitors.”

Local Jewish leaders also voiced their concern, explaining that the use of the word Nazi “diminishes and makes light of the horrors of the Holocaust,” Rachel Kort, rabbi of Temple Beth Or in Everett, told the Herald.

“This isn’t the community we’re trying to make,” she said.

Safety concerns lead to name change

It didn’t take long for vandals to target the business. By Wednesday morning, Everett police officers responded to reports of broken windows and graffiti at the restaurant, a spokesperson for the department told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

One business nearby, concerned for the safety of its customers, chose to close as protests took place outside the kitchen, KIRO reported.

“You don’t know what else could happen, so I canceled my classes yesterday just out of protection for my clients,” businessowner Cindy Devier said, according to the TV station.

By late Wednesday afternoon, Ho made the decision to drop “Nazi” from the name and blacked the word out on the sign, The Herald reported. Not because Ho is concerned with offending people, but for the safety of his neighbors.

Why that name?

Ho explained his reasoning behind the name as well and his plans for the future of the restaurant on his blog “Foodyap.” He says the “Soup Nazi” name was inspired by customers who had dubbed Ho “the juice Nazi” “for [his] focus on efficiency” at his other establishment, Alive Juice Bar, in Seattle, among other things.

“It references ‘Seinfeld’s’ Soup Nazi episode, nostalgia for the 90s really, when there was nowhere this amount of censorship,” the post reads. “Finally, it refers to the present[;] this business was created in response to the lockdown and social distancing measures.”

“The Soup Nazi” aired on the show in November 1995, according to IMDB, and the character’s famous “no soup for you” quote became immortalized.

“A soup stand owner obsesses about his customers’ ordering procedure, but his soup is so good that people line up down the block for it anyway,” the episode’s IMDB description reads.

Ho has also authored books with profanity-laced titles, including “How to Make the Nasty [expletive] Taste Good” and “How to eat like an [expletive],” according to Amazon.

As for the new name, the restaurant owner says he is between keeping with the original idea by filling in the blank left in The Soup [BLANK] Kitchen with other words. But he may default to a suggestion from a customer, Alive Soups, according to the blog post.

Ho’s response to being asked if it was worth it?

“I don’t know.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 1:23 PM with the headline "‘Soup Nazi’ restaurant changes name after outcry, vandalism before Washington opening."