Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Pittsburgh Restaurant Manager Fired Over Anti-Semitic Facebook Post

(JTA) — The manager of a popular restaurant in Pittsburgh was fired after he shared an anti-Semitic post on Facebook.

Yokoso Japanese Steakhouse owner Jeff Kim apologized in a Facebook post for the action of his employee, calling it “inexcusable.” He also wrote: “Please know that his comments and views do not reflect the values of the restaurant and its employees. His employment has been terminated.” The restaurant is located on the city’s waterfront.

The post was a meme that shows the interior of an oven and read “Jewish bunk beds for sale.”

The restaurant staff learned of the post on Sunday and the employee was fired on Monday.

The employee, identified as Stephen Guyer, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the post was a “huge mistake” and that he thought the meme “was something about a Danish bunk bed.”

He added: “My life has been ruined now. I would never disrespect Jewish people intentionally. I love all people no matter their race, color or religion. I made a mistake and I’m very sorry for the outcome.”

The post comes eight months after an attack on the Tree of Life synagogue that left 11 worshippers dead. The restaurant is located about four miles from the restaurant.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.