A San Francisco Bay Area chef doesn't want to serve anyone at his restaurant wearing the President Donald Trump-inspired "Make America Great Again" hats.

In a since-deleted tweet, J. Kenji López-Alt said, "It hasn’t happened yet, but if you come to my restaurant wearing a MAGA cap, you aren’t getting served, same as if you come in wearing a swastika, white hood, or any other symbol of intolerance and hate."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the tweet from Sunday had more than 2,000 likes by Wednesday afternoon.

In another apparently deleted tweet from Sunday, López-Alt said, "MAGA hats are like white hoods except stupider because you can see exactly who is wearing them," per the Chronicle.

Other tweets replying to users remained on López-Alt's profile on Thursday. "If you’re comfortable sitting next to a MAGA wearer I’m probably not interested in serving you either," the chef said.

López-Alt is a chef and partner at Wursthall in San Mateo, less than 20 miles from downtown San Francisco. He's also written a New York Times bestseller, "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science."

USA TODAY's calls to the restaurant Thursday evening were not answered. The chef told the Chronicle the Wursthall had received threats via email since the tweet, but declined to comment further.

Restaurant goers told the Chronicle that they understood López-Alt's sentiment but disagreed with a ban.

"I see where he's coming from, but I don't think you should just keep people out because of a hat," San Mateo resident Jamie Hwang, 42, told the newspaper inside the restaurant. "I get that idea, that maybe that hat could mean the person wearing it is just looking for a fight, but just cutting off dialogue, not giving a chance to get to know someone – I just don't know if that’s something I would do."

"I don't think it matters to me about the rule, but the hat doesn't just tell you all about the person," Bryan Agbayani, 30, also told the newspaper while dining. "All people are different. It's just weird, to me, at least, that he would make it part of this business."

Since Trump's presidential campaign, red "MAGA" caps have become a divisive symbol in the United States. Those who wear them often say they do so to show patriotism and outward support for the president. Others say the hats promote the hate and racism that they believe Trump fosters.

The hats, sold for $25 on Trump's campaign website, sparked widespread conversation earlier this month after an incident involving an indigenous marcher and a group of high school boys donning the caps in Washington, D.C.

In the wake of the incident, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, "The red MAGA hat is the new white hood," and later said she wouldn't apologize for the remark.

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter: @RyanW_Miller