Joey Tomato’s pizzeria in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, is at the center of a major controversy over a viral video taken inside their restaurant by Tom Jurkowski, the founder of Vintage New Jersey. He’s since deleted the video, posted on August 2, from his account, but the Internet remembers forever. A simple request for a knife to cut a birthday cake for a 5-year-old led to chaos. It wasn’t Waffle House level, but the owner was not pleased and refused to give them a knife. Now, the pizzeria has broken its silence on the viral incident, and their position hasn’t changed.
“We were celebrating a birthday at Joey Tomatoes in Point Pleasant Beach (my 5 year old nephew). Mind you, we bought 4 large pies (different toppings) and 5 large drinks. It cost around $250. We called them ahead of time and ask if it was ok to bring a cake,” Jurkowski wrote in his now-deleted tweet. He also said they called ahead and asked the establishment if they could bring a cake.
Joey’s now posted a lengthy statement on their Facebook page (via The Star-Ledger):
“For a few days now, the internet has decided it knows everything about our restaurant based on thirty seconds of footage that started after the real conversation was already underway. No context. No beginning. Just a clip, built for outrage, and a comment section full of opinions,” Joey Tomato’s said in the lengthy statement shared to Facebook. “We are a pizza restaurant. Not a party venue, not a bakery, not a rental hall. ...Every restaurant on this boardwalk has policies that exist for real reasons — food safety, liability, order in a kitchen running full speed on a summer night. Those policies aren’t up for a public vote just because one moment of enforcing them got recorded.”
Joey Tomato’s did not respond to multiple calls and messages from NJ.com for comment. The restaurant opened in 1990 and has been a mainstay of the family friendly Jenkinson’s boardwalk, situated near Jenkinson’s Aquarium and Jenkinson’s Amusement Park.
Update: A family who was celebrating their 5y/o child’s birthday at Joey Tomatoes pizzeria in Point Pleasant beach was berated by the owner for asking for a knife to cut a Birthday cake after they spent $250 for food & drinks. Allegedly they called before bringing it.Who’s right? pic.twitter.com/uekFfYcdqE
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) August 8, 2026
Sure, but then who gave the go-ahead to bring the cake into the pizzeria in the first place? One would assume that cutlery would be a reasonable request, no?
Joey Tomato’s finally responds after viral birthday cake video divides the internet https://t.co/3DaS7pDaQg @nj1015
— New Jersey 101.5 (@nj1015) August 6, 2026
At the end of the day, the owner is the owner. It’s a private establishment that can refuse service, but I wouldn’t think a 5-year-old’s birthday party would be a hill to die on. Regardless, the incident happened. It’s over. Joey’s will march on, as will Tom. But hoo boy, what a mess this caused.
