Some sort of metaphor.

March 19, 2019 1:58 PM

Rascal Flatts restaurants failed nationwide. Did a Mafia soldier pull the strings? Frank Capri received witness protection and used his new identity to wreak havoc on developers of Toby Keith restaurants. Then, he did it again. The most ridiculous and representative USA story you'll read today.
posted by bongo_x (31 comments total)

Welcome to USA TODAY NETWORK’S EUROPEAN UNION EXPERIENCE
posted by biffa at 2:05 PM on March 19, 2019 [8 favorites]

That webpage set the color of my browser toolbar to red and the only way to get rid of it was by closing the tab. Is it actually legit?
posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:26 PM on March 19, 2019

Cheese fries next time?
posted by Gable Oak at 2:26 PM on March 19, 2019

thatwhichfalls: I notice that in Safari, the top window bar is translucent; scrolling the linked page up and down it, the bar turns red when some of the red art is "behind" it.
posted by salt grass at 2:28 PM on March 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

There briefly was a Toby Keith "I love this bar" location in Cincinnati. It was built in a revitalized part of town between our sports stadiums. I never went but people I know that did reported terrible, indifferent service and seemingly overnight, the place was shuttered.
posted by mmascolino at 2:32 PM on March 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Well, the sequel to My Blue Heaven took an unexpected turn.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:52 PM on March 19, 2019 [9 favorites]

I got literally three words into (the title of) this piece and im already extremely confused.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 3:01 PM on March 19, 2019 [7 favorites]

Robert Anglen did a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" yesterday in conjunction with the story and his responses are pretty stellar if you want to continue down this rabbit hole. Excellent reporting work all around.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:12 PM on March 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

thatwhichfalls, salt grass: If you are on a Mac, that might be a "feature" of Apple OS - it can be switched off by going to System Preferences > Display > check (turn on) Reduce Transparency.
posted by carter at 3:13 PM on March 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

So this guy can basically get away with this graft over and over again because the federal government has promised to keep his identity secret, so he can't really be sued via the traditional system. What a shitty situation for everyone involved.

Here's hoping the mafia figures out who he is and where he's hiding thanks to this reporting.
posted by allkindsoftime at 3:40 PM on March 19, 2019 [5 favorites]

One of the Toby Keith places was supposed to open near my neighborhood a few years ago and they actually had the interior mostly built out before the plug was pulled. Of course we ended up with a place called The Tequila Cowboy instead so it's not like this guy had the monopoly on shitty country music theme-bars.
posted by octothorpe at 3:50 PM on March 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

I went to Nashville last year and saw bars with Alan Jackson, Florida-Georgia Line, and Jason Aldean's names on them. I probably would have seen more had I really looked.
posted by 41swans at 4:19 PM on March 19, 2019

"A life of increasingly bold public-facing grifts" isn't what I would pick after putting dozens of my Mafia associates behind bars, but to each their own I guess.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:54 PM on March 19, 2019 [4 favorites]

Why isn't Frank Capri working in the White House?
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:01 PM on March 19, 2019 [4 favorites]

Walter Sobchak:
Now so far, we have what appears to me to be a series of victimless crimes.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 5:11 PM on March 19, 2019 [7 favorites]

people I know that did reported terrible, indifferent service and seemingly overnight, the place was shuttered.

So, the saloon equivalent of Toby Keith’s “musicianship” and career.

Well, life is a highway.
posted by spitbull at 5:36 PM on March 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

There was a Garth Brooks BBQ restaurant down the road, but one day it inexplicably became a goth club.

That's the joke
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:48 PM on March 19, 2019 [35 favorites]

I am trying to fathom the real-life implications of this kind of press for Capri, whose testimonies sent a whole lot of people with mafia connections to jail. I mean, I can only imagine that unpleasant scenarios will unfold as a result. Rascal Flatts, though? Well, they'll most assuredly get off scott-free, as usual!
posted by Bob Regular at 5:52 PM on March 19, 2019

This Goodfella's sequel is very strangely plotted, but I'm into it.
posted by neonrev at 6:08 PM on March 19, 2019 [6 favorites]

There was a Garth Brooks BBQ restaurant down the road, but one day it inexplicably became a goth club.

Please tell me it's called Goth Brooks.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:08 PM on March 19, 2019 [41 favorites]

Also, seen some speculation elsewhere that sometimes when someone in the Mafia snitches, it might be done with the implicit or even explicit support of other mobsters who won't be getting snitched on and will move up the chain after the arrests. Sort of a 'cleaning the house' kind of thing I guess. He may live in fear of the mob, he may live under their protection, but he sure doesn't seem like he's trying to be quiet about it. As with all mafia related things you read on the internet, take it with a very large grain of salt.
posted by neonrev at 6:14 PM on March 19, 2019

Please tell me it's called Goth Brooks.

I think it was supposed to be a Chris Gaines joke.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:19 PM on March 19, 2019 [6 favorites]

A lot of people were pissed when the last I Love This Bar location recently closed in Patriot's Place in Foxboro. A lot of people who like loud, obnoxious, overpriced bars that were responsible for the most DUIs in the whole state of Massachusetts.
posted by yhbc at 10:05 PM on March 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is such a very specific crime to have committed twice.
posted by ethansr at 10:16 PM on March 19, 2019

Why isn't Frank Capri working in the White House?

Give the President time, he works at his own pace
posted by mwhybark at 10:39 PM on March 19, 2019 [4 favorites]

This is such a very specific crime to have committed twice.

And here I thought you were referring to Toby Keith's hit records.
posted by spitbull at 5:11 AM on March 20, 2019 [5 favorites]

"This is such a very specific crime to have committed twice."

His mob history gave gave him the general know-how for this type of crime, his girlfriend provided the opportunity within a particular industry.

The country-music theme may seem arbitrary, but it's deliberate and crafty: snare popular country music performers who know nothing about restaurants with a lucrative licensing deal, snare developers with a legit-seeming country music themed restaurant chain licensed by a popular band. Capri's GF and her business associate are the front of respectabilty the other parties expect, then steal money from the developers and contractors. The fools who signed the contracts are left holding the bag and they claim ignorance and non-involvement, which may or may not be true.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:05 AM on March 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

For everyone wondering about the wisdom of committing crimes while in the witness protection program, you should know that this guy has nothing on Henry Hill, who amazingly died of natural causes, albeit relatively young.
posted by TedW at 11:05 AM on March 20, 2019

This is very much in support of my personal theory that every single business has a dark side.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:56 PM on March 20, 2019

I went to Nashville last year and saw bars with Alan Jackson, Florida-Georgia Line, and Jason Aldean's names on them. I probably would have seen more had I really looked.

The people developing those bars are a bit shady too.
posted by ghharr at 2:52 PM on March 20, 2019

Nick Tosches, paging Nick Tosches.
posted by spitbull at 4:41 PM on March 20, 2019