The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA – Business is brisk at Geno’s Steaks.

Supporters and the curious are flocking like pilgrims to see signs at the cheesesteak emporium that read: “This is AMERICA … WHEN ORDERING, “SPEAK ENGLISH.”‘

The small, laminated placards, tucked unobtrusively near the takeout window, have ignited a nationwide firestorm of debate about English, immigration and free speech. And, neighborhood gossip has it, they have done a better job at attracting customers than the store’s Las Vegas-style neon lights ever did.

“A little sign like that?” exclaimed Penny Constantino, a South Philadelphian who saw the controversial signs for the first time while in line for lunch this week.

“I’ll buy you a poster,” she told Geno Vento, whose family owns the store at Ninth and Passyunk. “Why don’t you make (the sign) bigger?”

The city’s Commission on Human Relations contended on Monday that the cheesesteak stand is violating antidiscrimination laws by denying service to people on the basis of national origin and by posting material that makes targeted groups feel their patronage is unwelcome.

Owner Joey Vento has said the signs are directed at a booming population of illegal immigrants near his business. In dozens of interviews with media outlets across the country, he has said Latino immigrants don’t “pay the price” that his Italian-immigrant grandparents, stuck in an ethnic enclave because they could not speak English, had to. The newest immigrants, he said, are coddled with services available in Spanish.

That message, picked up in the blogosphere, has resonated across the country and in Geno’s neighborhood.

“The only ones who have freedom of speech are the politically correct,” said Tina Dolpies, 62, owner of New Leaf Flower Shop in South Philadelphia. “Why should (Vento’s) opinion be suppressed? I don’t think that’s fair. That’s not the America I know.”

“Here’s the thing,” said another Geno’s customer, an Indian immigrant from Dallas. “If I wanted to have a cheesesteak, wouldn’t I learn how to say it?”

“They’re not asking you to recite the entire dictionary,” Cherian Abraham, a medical intern, said.

Two blocks from Geno’s, two Mexicans said they didn’t need Joey Vento to tell them to learn English.

“English is very necessary,” said Oscar, a 20-year-old restaurant worker who declined to give his last name because he is an illegal immigrant.

His brother, a 26-year-old carpenter named Emilio, said he took English classes when he arrived in the United States in 1998. Now, he learns the language from American friends and from his daughter.

The 5-year-old comes home from school, pounces on him, and says, “Hey, Daddy, can we play together? Hey, Daddy, can you buy me an ice cream?” Emilio said, switching to English to describe her words.

A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation, released last week, found that a majority of Latinos believe that immigrants need to speak English to become part of American society and that English should be taught to the children of immigrants.

Whether or not Vento accurately understands Latino attitudes on English, his signs have hit a nerve. They have spawned fans, including the man wearing a “Welcome to America. Now Speak English” T-shirt while in line at Geno’s during lunch.

They have also given rise to some counter-promotion by competitors. Steaks on South, over on South Street, put up a sign that says: “Feel free to order in any language. We will gladly serve you, with brotherly love.”

The suggestion that Vento should take down his placards sparked 700 e-mails – most from Texas, Montana, and other states ill-versed in the lingo of “Whiz wit”‘ and “Whiz wit’ out” – to Councilman Jim Kenney, who sent a letter to Geno’s owner.

“I’ve been cursed out in some colorful language,” Kenney, a Democrat, said. “It does reinforce that I’m on the right side. … The redder the state, the worse it is.”

Kenney said most of the 75 e-mails from Philadelphia expressed support for his position: that the signs do a disservice to the city and its effort to attract tourists. However, he said, he thinks the complaint by the Human Relations Commission is ill-advised.

“One, I think they’re going to lose,” Kenney said. “Two, it gives Geno’s more publicity and makes them dig their heels in more.”

Several neighborhood business owners and residents said they thought the Geno’s signs were a ploy.

“He’s got method to his madness,” said Frank Donatona, 38, who was visiting his mother in the neighborhood Tuesday. “He’s more packed than usual.”

Frank Olivieri, owner of archrival Pat’s King of Steaks across the street, has taken note of Geno’s longer lines since the recent headlines.

“Before, you could see clear inside to the clock,” he said, chuckling. “It’ll last for a while, then it will go back to the way it was.”

Olivieri said his business had not been affected by the controversy, though he has received scores of e-mails lambasting and congratulating him. Some think he is the one brandishing the “Speak English” signs.

“Language has never been an issue for us,” Olivieri said. “This neighborhood has always been a melting pot, and it’s still a melting pot. It’s the same as it’s always been.”

In more ways than one. The block remains the hub of a decades-old rivalry.

Oscar and Emilio, sitting on a step nearby, said they had ordered cheesesteaks – in English – at Geno’s. But they prefer Pat’s.

It has nothing to do with Geno’s signs, the brothers said. Or even that several workers at Pat’s speak Spanish.

At Pat’s, “it’s better,” Oscar said, in perfect English. “It’s the best.”

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