A Three-Word Tweet Made Jimmy’s Famous Seafood The Surprise Olympics Winner

As Americans continue to celebrate Team USA hockey's 2026 Winter Olympics gold victory over Canada, on both the men’s and women’s side, an unlikely contender has slid into contention for the biggest beneficiary: Jimmy’s Famous Seafood.

Yes, the restaurant.

Jimmy’s didn’t just stumble into the spotlight, either. The restaurant barreled its way into the national conversation with a simple three-word reply on X: "Go f**k yourself." 

As OutKick covered over the weekend, the Huffington Post wrote a truly awful story claiming that many Americans feel "shame" rooting for the United States at the Olympics. The outlet was proud of that story and even published it a second time. It also posted the story on its X feed.

That didn’t go particularly well.

HuffPo got, as the kids would say, ratioed. Hard.

As of this article’s publication, the social media post has more than 27,000 comments and roughly 1,600 likes. But the comment that really caught fire was the one from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood. That reply has since racked up over 200,000 likes, more than 100 times as many as HuffPo's original post. 

But here's the best part: Jimmy’s co-owner and CEO, John Minadakis, was the one who fired off the post, and he did it from a place you wouldn't expect.

"Yeah, so that was actually my tweet," Minadakis told OutKick. "Interestingly enough, it was sent from a church."

Minadakis said he was at Godparents' Sunday with his kids when the men’s gold-medal game went to overtime. 

"We had to watch overtime during the liturgy," he said. 

So he and a few others stepped out into the foyer to watch, and like plenty of Americans who saw the moment unfold, he felt it.

"You were just overcome with a sense of pride and patriotism," Minadakis said. "It's one of those moments you’ll remember where you were for the rest of your life."

The co-owners of Jimmy's Famous Seafood, John (left) and Tony (right) Minadakis. 

(Jimmy's Famous Seafood)

Minadakis said the tweet came after he was scrolling through celebratory posts from the game, including shots of the postgame celebration and Johnny Gaudreau's kids on the ice. However, he stumbled upon the HuffPo post deriding American patriots who were cheering on their countrymen and felt compelled to respond. 

"I was like, ‘Oh, no. Not today, my friend.’ So yeah, I guess, as they say, the rest is history," Minadakis recalled. 

When asked if he was surprised by the overwhelming response, he gave a simple answer: "I guess we typed what everybody else was thinking, right?" 

Jimmy’s Turns Viral Tweet Into New Customers And A Team USA Offer

The post went mega-viral, which provided a perfect opportunity for Minadakis and Jimmy's Famous Seafood to put American capitalism to work for them. The Baltimore seafood institution was flooded with orders from new customers wanting to show support for a restaurant that embraces American ideals. 

"This has been the craziest day of my life, in terms of work. There has been an outpouring of support, unlike any other, and it’s just really humbling," he said.

Now, he says, the goal is to turn viral attention into lifelong customers. 

"We’re determined to really just touch every single order and let everybody know how much we appreciate their support," Minadakis said, adding the team is planning to include handwritten notes in each order they ship. 

"We just really want to capitalize on the spotlight that’s been thrust on Jimmy’s right now and make these people part of our family for life."

Speaking of customers for life, Jimmy's followed up its viral moment with an offer to all Team USA hockey men's and women's gold medalists: free crab cakes FOR LIFE. 

While Minadakis said none of the players have accepted the offer in the 24 hours since it was made, he expects eventually some will. 

"I’m very confident that once the first person takes us up on the offer, word of mouth, it’ll get around, and God willing, we’ll be feeding the entire team at some point," Minadakis said. 

While there were some who chastised the business for using NSFW language and an aggressive approach, Minadakis said he doesn't care. 

"We don’t really pay any mind to that. Never have," he said. "No matter what you do in life, and especially in business, not everybody’s gonna be on board with it. But as long as you're true to yourself, and you're true to your teammates and your workmates… [why would] you worry about a few people that aren't happy about it?" 

Minadakis says that backbone, and the decision to lean into American pride without apology, is not new for Jimmy’s. 

"We have some non-negotiables as a brand, and one of them is our sense of American pride," he said. 

"Our story is that of the American dream. And this country has blessed myself and my family and many others with everything we have."