Not backing down.
A Memphis restaurant has received a lot of backlash for refusing to serve four member of the Tennessee National Guard over the weekend – but the owner is standing by his decision.
The story began gaining traction after Libs of TikTok reported yesterday that Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza had kicked out the four service members who were attempting to dine at the restaurant:
Tennessee Representative John Gillispie condemned the decision, praising the National Guard for helping reduce crime in the city:
“The National Guard has cut crime and saved hundreds of lives in Memphis. It is unconscionable they would be refused service by the very people they are here to protect. I’m fighting against this insanity to ensure Memphians are safe and our laws are enforced. Thank you to everyone who serves.”
And after going viral, owner Miles Tamboli claims the business had to turn off their phones after receiving hundreds of calls from folks outraged by his decision.
The National Guard members are in the city as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, which was established by President Donald Trump in an executive order last September in an attempt to clean up the city’s violent crime problem through a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The task force includes not only the National Guard but also 13 federal agencies like the FBI, US Marshals Service, DEA and ATF, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement.
According to the US Marshals, the task force has already made more than 10,000 arrests, including 92 for homicide and nearly 1,000 for firearms violations, including over 1,000 known gang members, while taking over 1,700 illegal guns off the streets. They’ve also located over 150 missing or exploited children.
But it’s also come under criticism from the ACLU and locals who don’t approve of the military being used for law enforcement purposes, and have raised concerns about four deaths from agent-involved shootings over the past couple of months. The latest came this month, when 20-year-old Tryin Johnson was killed by National Guard members during a foot chase. In a statement, the Memphis Police Department says that Johnson fled when officers responded to a call for shots fired, and pointed a gun at National Guard members who were assisting with the chase.
Critics have demanded that the National Guard leave the city, and no longer carry guns while they’re on patrol, though that seems unlikely to happen given the shooting in Washington, D.C. of two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November.
All that to say, given the controversy surrounding the task force, Miles Tamboli, owner of Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza, released a statement to Action News 5 amid the backlash doubling down on his decision to refuse service to the National Guard members:
“On Saturday night we declined to serve four uniformed members of the Memphis Safe Task Force, and I stand behind that decision completely.”
Tamboli claims that the task force isn’t necessary because Memphis was already getting safer before their arrival:
“I love this country and I love this city, and that is exactly why I made this call. I want Memphis to be safe. Every business owner does. And the honest truth is that Memphis was already getting safer before this Task Force ever arrived. Crime was at a 25-year low through the first eight months of 2025, according to the Memphis Police Department’s own data, later confirmed by an independent Tennessee Bureau of Investigation audit. That progress was earned by the people of this city. It was not delivered by soldiers.”
And he blames the task force for making it harder to live in the city:
“What the Task Force has actually done is make this city harder to live in. Its own records show that the overwhelming majority of its arrests began with routine traffic stops, not violent crime. Families in this city are now afraid to drive to work, afraid to take their kids to school, afraid to be seen. Our own schools reported that fear drove children to stop showing up to class.”
Tamboli also cites the shooting of Johnson earlier this month as proof that the task force is actually making the city less safe:
“And this month a 20-year-old Memphian named Tyrin Johnson was shot and killed by National Guard troops during a foot chase, with no body camera footage and no answers for his family. None of that makes us safer. It makes us less safe, and it does the most damage to the people who were already struggling.”
He says that he’s not alone in the business community in opposing the task force, and that several other businesses would apparently also deny service to National Guard members – a decision that he doesn’t plan to back down from:
“Months ago I joined dozens of other local businesses in a public commitment to stand against the military policing our streets, an act of patriotism and conscience both, and I would make the same decision tomorrow.”
Sounds like they’re going to have to find somewhere else to eat. But honestly, knowing how this place feels about them, probably not somewhere I would feel comfortable eating anyway…
