Hold the ketchup? Restaurant bans cause outrage

A Florida restaurant's decision to ban ketchup to patrons over 10 years old has sparked a virtual food fight.

"No ketsup for you!" says Mad Fresh Bistro in Fort Myers, Fla., on its website. Also, no salt.

"We know what we're doing!" the website reads. "Part of the MAD experience is to trust the chef, and not have preconceived notions of what your dish is going to need."

The restaurant's stance has stirred up strong emotions, particularly on the pro-ketchup side.

"They're not going to take my ketchup away!" one person tweeted.

One outraged Yelper wrote, "I ask this, who do they think they are? Our parents? Food nazis?"

The Wire published a story entitled, "America Should Ban Chefs Who Ban Ketchup."

Mad Bistro isn't the first establishment to get backlash for a condiment ban:

• Father's Office, a gastropub in Los Angeles, serves up burgers and fries, but no ketchup.

Writing on Yelp, a customer said he asked for ketchup but was denied. "While I applaud the chef for having a great palette and making a delicious menu, please don't assume you know my mouth better than I," he wrote.

Some Yelpers went so far as to try to push a photo of Father's Office sweet potato fries smothered in ketchup in an effort to make the image the restaurant's main photo on Yelp.com, reports Eater.com.

Father's Office Chef Sang Yoon said earlier this year that he's "not really into the ketchup thing." He said the sweet and sour of ketchup can be made using other ingredients.

Yoon added that he doesn't hate ketchup, "contrary to popular belief."

• Thrasher's French Fries, in Maryland and Delaware, serves malt vinegar instead of ketchup, reports Yahoo. Most users on Yelp agreed with the decision to ban ketchup. "They aren't meant to be eaten with anything except Cider Vinegar," one Yelper wrote.

• Zucco: Le French Diner, a restaurant in New York City's Lower East Side, did not serve ketchup or Budweiser. The chef believed these two items "did not seem suitable accompaniments for the establishment's food," reports The New York Times. It should be noted: the restaurant is now closed.

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