Local restaurant serves guilty, not guilty sandwiches for Hernandez trial

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

Twitter: @Rebecca_Turco

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FALL RIVER – A local restaurant is letting you be the juror in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial.

Taphouse Grille, located across the street from the Fall River courthouse, is serving up new courthouse specials starting Monday. The guilty burger: two angus beef patties piled high with cheese, bacon, crispy fried onion straws and house-made Guinness stout BBQ sauce. The not-guilty wrap: grilled chicken, arcadia mix, tomato, onion, kalamata olives and roasted red peppers with a light pesto aioli.

It’s meant to be a light-hearted way for the restaurant to play-up the extra foot traffic during the highly-anticipated trial. “We thought, what better way than to literally ask the public ‘what do you think?’” explained owner Phil Pinto.

Pinto said the play on words could apply to any case, and depending on popularity, the restaurant may offer these courthouse specials regularly.

Deciding which side to take is a dilemma for some. “I got the ‘not guilty’ against my better judgment,” explained Mark Boddie of Providence.

“Especially if I’m hungry, I might go with the guilty cause I love burgers,” said Stephen Diniz of Somerset. “But not guilty would be good too if I’m on a diet or something like that.”

Around 20 percent more people are coming into Taphouse Grille for lunch since the Hernandez hearings began months ago, according to Pinto. He expects upwards of 30 percent more people as the trial continues.

The owner hopes these courthouse specials show out-of-towners a more fun side of Fall River in the midst of this tragedy.

“We’re hoping that at least at the end of the day, it opens our exposure to people from outside the city,” said Pinto.

Taphouse Grille will be keeping a running tally on its website each week of guilty and not guilty orders.

© WLNE-TV 2014