Memphis pizzeria sees business surge after National Guard refusal

A Memphis pizza restaurant that drew national backlash after refusing to serve National Guard members says the boycott effort has backfired, with supporters packing the restaurant nightly in what locals are calling a “buy-cott.”

Miles Tamboli, owner of Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza in the city’s Midtown neighborhood, turned away four uniformed members of the Memphis Safe Task Force on July 11, citing his opposition to the federally led initiative’s presence in the city. Mr. Tamboli has argued that using National Guard troops in support of local law enforcement has made Memphis less safe rather than more secure, a position he first laid out publicly days after the incident.

“I stand behind that decision completely,” Mr. Tamboli said.

The task force, established under a presidential memorandum President Trump signed in September 2025, combines Memphis police, state troopers, National Guard soldiers and agents from several federal agencies, with a mandate that extends beyond violent crime to quality-of-life and public-safety enforcement in a city the memo says had the nation’s highest per capita violent crime rate in 2024.

Mr. Tamboli’s refusal to serve the guard members sparked backlash from conservative social media accounts and Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, who said online he would avoid the restaurant. Some state and local officials also criticized the move, though Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy voiced public support for the business.

Rather than hurting business, the backlash appears to have had the opposite effect. A “buy-cott,” organized in part after a local activist highlighted Mr. Tamboli’s stand on social media, has drawn crowds to the restaurant every night since, with lines forming before the dinner rush and extra staff brought in to keep up with demand. Mr. Tamboli said business roughly doubled compared with normal volume the week after the incident and that he has not heard from any longtime customers saying they would stop coming.

Mr. Tamboli has pointed to the deaths of two Memphis residents this month — Tyrin Johnson, 20, fatally shot during a foot chase, and Jonah Neal, killed during a mental health crisis — as evidence of the risks of the deployment. Task force supporters credit its presence with reducing crime; Mr. Tamboli’s claim that crime had already fallen to a 25-year low before the task force’s arrival is based on Memphis Police Department statistics and a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation audit that supporters of the task force dispute.

Mr. Tamboli, who previously said he received threats after the incident, said he and his family have temporarily relocated from their home.