Doreen Sullivan-Karcich, owner of Joey Tomato's in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, has defended her decision to refuse a family's request to use a knife to cut their own birthday cake within the establishment. The incident, which occurred on August 2, 2026, was captured on video and subsequently went viral on social media.
Sullivan-Karcich stated that her actions were in line with the restaurant's established protocols, emphasizing customer safety, liability, and the operational demands of a busy pizzeria. "We are also Jersey Strong! Protecting our customers, employees, reputation, and brand is important," she said in a statement released by the restaurant. "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."
The video depicts Sullivan-Karcich confronting a group, questioning their request to use a kitchen utensil. "You don’t just walk into a restaurant and do whatever you want," she was heard saying, drawing a parallel to bringing a cake to someone's home unannounced.
The footage was shared by Tom Jurkowski, owner of the Jersey Coast Emergency News account, who was present at the time. Following the video's widespread circulation and the ensuing backlash, the restaurant owners posted on Facebook, seeking to provide context. They clarified that Joey Tomato's is a pizza restaurant, not a party venue, and that the viral clip began after the initial conversation was already in progress, lacking the full context.
"So let’s be clear about who we are. We are a pizza restaurant. Not a party venue, not a bakery, not a rental hall. We built our name on pizza — the kind the Jersey Shore is known for," the statement read. The owners affirmed their commitment to their policies, stating, "Those policies aren’t up for a public vote just because one moment of enforcing them got recorded."
In a lighthearted, albeit defiant, response to the viral incident, the restaurant humorously considered a new tagline: "We don’t do cake. We do pizza." Despite the jocular suggestion, social media users continued to express criticism regarding the restaurant's handling of the situation.