No Coffee For Jews: Israeli Customer Denied Service in New York Café

An Israeli software engineer living in Brooklyn was refused service at a popular coffee shop last week after engaging in a verbal exchange with pro-Palestinian activists outside. The confrontation, which occurred at Variety Coffee Roasters in the Park Slope neighborhood, has since gone viral and triggered a wave of condemnation online.

The man, identified only as "S," told said the incident unfolded after two women, wearing shirts with slogans like “Stolen Land” and “Genocide,” allegedly stared at him while he was speaking Hebrew on a call with family. When he later encountered them again outside the café, he tried to engage in conversation.

"I attempted a civil discussion, but it quickly escalated into them accusing me of being like a Nazi and verbally attacking my children," he recounted. One of the women, he said, told him, “Your children should be ashamed you are like the Nazis.” He responded, calling them “self-hating Jews,” and then entered the café.

Inside, S was told by the barista, who identified himself as the manager, that he would not be served. The interaction was captured on video, in which the barista explains that he did not like the way S had spoken to the women outside, one of whom he described as a regular customer.

“I said, okay, thanks for your opinion. That’s when he started scolding me, calling me rude and demanding that I leave,” said S. “I told him I wouldn’t walk out with my head down. He crossed a line.”

S explained that when he described what had been said about his children, the barista replied, “But I’m not committing genocide,” in what S described as a harsh, judgmental tone. Ironically, the barista was also Jewish.

S says he does not plan to pursue legal action but believes this was clear-cut discrimination. “I was born in the Soviet Union. I know antisemitism when I see it. Has anyone in America ever been kicked out of a coffee shop for saying ‘thank you for your opinion’? I doubt it.”

He declined the barista’s later offer to serve the drink after the confrontation ended. “I told him, I won’t take anything from you, and I walked out.”

S says this is not the first time his family has felt targeted in the neighborhood. “We chose Park Slope because of the good schools, but we’ve been here less than a year and my kids, who are under six, have already experienced antisemitism. It’s becoming unsafe. You see fundraisers for Gaza and parents organizing resistance-themed activities for elementary school kids. For children, resistance often means violence or exclusion. My kids do not feel safe here.”

The video of the café incident has sparked outrage among pro-Israel communities online, with users calling to lower the shop’s rating on Google and leave reviews protesting what they called “anti-Jewish hate disguised as activism.” Others posted the location of the café, urging people to ask why such hostility is tolerated.

“The place is disgusting, and the coffee isn’t even good,” said S. “I only went in because the poke restaurant I planned to visit was closed. It was definitely my last time.”