‘Come or don’t’: Taking a stand on ICE, Boise restaurant gets buried in reviews
Kacey Montgomery does not consider himself an influencer of consequence on Red Bench Pizza’s Instagram page. Not normally.
“If I post something about a sandwich,” Montgomery says, “I’ll probably get 20 likes.”
But shaken by the gut-wrenching videos of ICE killings in Minneapolis, Red Bench’s owner shared a short online message Saturday night — about “propaganda,” “trusting your own eyes” and pushing “back against narratives that don’t match reality.” And he underscored it with a brief Red Bench Pizza statement.
“In this moment in the United States of America,” the Boise restaurant’s Instagram and Facebook pages declared, “we want you to know where we stand. Abolish ICE. Come or don’t come.”
You can probably guess what happened next.
By the time Montgomery woke up Sunday, a string of one-star Google reviews awaited Red Bench Pizza — oddly, seemingly generated by a single user. “I was like, ‘Oh God, is this what we’re going to have to deal with?’ ”
Montgomery quickly took a screenshot of the dishonest ratings and made a follow-up post. “If you have been in and enjoyed the staff and food,” Montgomery requested, “... and could share that today via Google reviews, it would be appreciated. These false reviews are childish but still harmful.”
Here’s where things get weird. And wonderful.
‘Long live Red Bench’
Positive reviews of Red Bench Pizza haven’t just trickled in during the past two or three days. They’ve flooded. “I think I’ve replied to 130 five-star reviews,” Montgomery says.
His original post, which has generated more than 5,500 combined likes, is filled overwhelmingly with supportive replies.
“As always, you come through for the community,” says a typical one. “Love you. Long live Red Bench.”
If Montgomery is surprised, he’s doing a good job of hiding it. To him, the encouragement is all part of a give-and-take that he and his wife, Shannon Lincoln, have treasured since they opened Red Bench Pizza at 1204 S. Vista Ave. in 2017.
“I have this really young, tuned in, amazing staff at Red Bench,” he says. “... And we have this voice as a restaurant that we’ve always used. We do a lot of things with the community, whether it’s food donations, drives — we donate every week to the Boise Kitchen Collective, giving meals out. And all the other things, the schools and the current organizations we support. And consequently, they support us.”
Posting about the Minnesota tragedies was risky business for a business.
But Montgomery doesn’t see this as red or blue. More like red, white and blue.
“I don’t think of it as a political stand, to be honest with you,” Montgomery explains. “I see it, and it’s like right or wrong. And again, I feel like it was so wrong. As a business owner in our community, like, it’s my responsibility — to say we’ve got to stop, you know? This isn’t right!”
“In my little bubble,” he says, “I really think of Red Bench — we think of it — as way more of a community kind of a spot. And it feels like that’s been kind of the response.”
‘Stick to pizza’
To be fair, it hasn’t all been pats on the back. “There’s the occasional, like, ‘Stick to pizza,’ ” Montgomery says.
My favorite whiny Instagram comment? “You support illegal not Americans. Just lost a customer damb liberals.” (I guess “damn” rhymes with “lamb”?)
One man called the restaurant asking, ‘Why would you ever take that stand? We will not be back,’ ” Montgomery says. “And then 5 minutes later, (someone) calling going, ‘I just read your post. I’m bringing my whole family in tonight. Do you take reservations?’ “
Pot-stirring on social media is not going to be Montgomery’s new hobby. But ...
“Would I raise my voice if I see something to me like this that is so blatantly wrong?” he says. “I would.”
Business has been up since the post. So has staff morale.
At least one other local restaurant, Boise Brewing, posted a similar ICE-related message Tuesday morning.
“We’ve always kind of been proud at Red Bench,” Montgomery says, “that we try to be a little more than just a restaurant, you know? It’s a lot more about community, and the guests that we have come in really appreciate that. And since we chose to take a stand, that community has grown exponentially.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 4:24 PM.