Philly pizzeria owner says 'there's no ill will' after declining to cater Astros during World Series

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KTRK) -- Two popular eateries in Philly turned down the opportunity to cater for the Astros during their stay for the World Series.

The video above is ABC13's 24/7 livestream.

Angelo's Pizzeria and Mike's BBQ declined to serve the Astros food before Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Mike's BBQ said they thought the Astros reached out to him by mistake because they addressed him as "Gil" and asked for Spanish food.

Gil Arends owns a Venezuelan restaurant, either way, Mike's BBQ declined the Houston team.

Angelo's Pizzeria owner Danny DiGiampietro caused a stir with Astros fans after an Instagram story he posted on Tuesday.

DiGiampietro told ABC13 partners at the Houston Chronicle that he keeps customers entertained by using Instagram to showcase his restaurant and spotlight colorful employees like Vinnie Boombatz and everyone at his place rolling out bread at 4 a.m.

A seven-second clip of his Instagram story went viral when people started messaging him asking if he was cooking for the Astros.

"If you think that I cooked for the Astros, you're out of your mind. We said no to them," DiGiampietro said in a video while delivering lunch to Citizens Bank Park for Phillies employees.

His words touched a nerve with Astros fans.

Bad reviews for the restaurant began rolling in on Yelp as fans sought revenge by calling in fake orders. One Astros fan even came up with a TikTok challenge, offering $250 to anyone who smashes a cheesesteak in DiGiampietro's face.

"I take it all in stride. I really don't take it too seriously," DiGiampietro said on Wednesday. "We're a different breed in this town, as I'm finding out about Astros fans. They're very passionate. Very, very passionate, but so are we. So I get it."

DiGiampietro wants Astros fans to know one thing first and foremost: "I am certainly not apologizing."

But there is much more to the story than what he shared in that short video clip.

DiGiampietro told the Chronicle that the Astros requested an order through email before the World Series as they attempted to set up postgame meals for each of the three games in Philadelphia.

Angelo's Pizzeria officially closes at 7 p.m., and the Astros wanted to place an order for 10 pizzas to be delivered at 11 p.m. Wednesday, near the end of Game 5.

Still, truth be told, like a lot of barbecue places back in Texas, they actually close whenever they run out of food, which is usually closer to 5 p.m.

"(Wednesday night), we'll be out of pizza and bread by 5, so for us to wait around five hours to make 10 pizzas and try to deliver them to the World Series with all the traffic when we're all diehard fans and we worked our (butts) off all day long?," DiGiampietro said from his office one story above the chaos of customers shouting orders down below. "I wasn't going to do it, that's for sure. And I wouldn't ask my employees to do that for 10 pizzas. We want to go home and watch the game with our loved ones or be at the bar and watch the game just like everybody else."

If the Astros had made an order during normal business hours, DiGiampietro says he absolutely would have filled it as he does with opposing teams all the time, even the in-state rival Steelers who lost to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

"The Steelers ordered 180 cheesesteaks for Sunday's game, and we said absolutely," DiGiampietro said. "We've got no problem cooking for anybody when we're open for business. We serve everybody here. We get New Yorkers here all the time, especially when the Mets are in town or the Rangers are playing the Flyers. They come in here and we have a good back and forth. 'You suck!' and 'No, you suck!' It's all in good-hearted fun."

But DiGiampietro does draw a line. He says he'll never make food for any teams battling the Eagles in the NFC East. Sorry, Dallas Cowboys.

"The Cowboys? Absolutely not. Never. That's treason," DiGiampietro said.

The main point DiGiampietro wants everyone to understand is that he didn't pull a fast one on the Astros. They tried to place an order after-hours, he couldn't do it, so he assumes they've ordered plenty of food from another popular establishment in town.

"It's not, 'Oh my God, we hate Houston,'" DiGiampietro said. "We didn't leave them in the lurch or leave them malnourished or anything like that. We just couldn't do it. Now, listen. I'm not a Houston fan. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but you can understand that, right? But there's no ill will."

As for the TikTok challeges and negative Yelp reviews? DiGiampietro laughs them off. He does think some fans might have crossed a line when they posted his home address online, but as a Philadelphia sports fan, he understands, and actually would love to visit Houston and win over the Astros fans who think they hate him.

"I would love to make the trip if the series goes back there," DiGiampietro said. "I'm a big golfer so if anybody in Houston wants to invite me to a game and a couple nice golf courses out there, I'll pay my own way, and I would love to come. I guarantee you if we sat down at a bar with anybody who's writing nasty (stuff) about me or anything, after one or two fingers of Scotch we will be the best of friends, I can promise you that."