No More Confederate Flag at Geno’s

Photo | Jeff Fusco

A Confederate flag sticker on a motorcycle displayed at Geno’s Steaks was removed after a customer took his complaint public Monday.

Phil Dahl complained this week to Philly.com about the sticker — on a neon-orange motorcycle built for the shop’s late founder, Joey Vento, displayed across the street from from the steak shop. His complaint came after the Charleston massacre renewed national debate over the flag’s symbolism.

“I’ve walked passed this monstrosity for four years now, and I just can’t believe no one has said anything about it,” Dahl told the website. “Maybe that says something about our own perceptions and blind spots to these sorts of things.”

Geno Vento, Joey’s son and current owner of the shop, on Monday had the sticker scraped from the motorcycle’s battery cover, and the motorcycle rotated 180 degrees.

Geno Vento told Philly.com. “The offending image has been removed from the public view.”

Joey Vento was known to enjoy sticking his thumb in the eye of politically correct attitudes — the “speak English” sticker at the ordering counter drew controversy for several years. Geno took over after his father’s 2011 death, and has since tried to navigate the line between honoring his father’s legacy of building the nationally known steak shop while departing from some of his dad’s more controversial political views.

“We all have family who we don’t see eye to eye with, we can’t change the fact that we are family,” Geno told Phillly.com. “Like all father [and] sons we had different opinions and views. What we can do is learn and make progress from this.”

He talked about his efforts to honor his dad while steering his own course this May in Philadelphia magazine. “Working with Dad was definitely a challenge,” he told the magazine. “He was like a dictator — there was no democracy. Being his son didn’t give me any leverage or extra points. But he taught me: With hard work, dedication and sacrifice, this is what you get in life. I’m very fortunate and very thankful for what I have.”