When The Times of Israel visited the Golden Dolphin Diner in Huntington, Long Island, on Saturday afternoon, the place was packed.
Though he was clearly flustered by the crowd, it’s a welcome change for diner owner Peter Tsadilas: After affixing dozens of “Kidnapped” posters featuring the Israeli hostages held by Hamas Gaza onto its windows, the popular Long Island diner was boycotted by delivery service drivers and took a whopping 40% hit in business in one week.
But now “business is back up,” said Tsadilas from behind the cash register of his small restaurant. Tsadilas was surrounded by dozens of customers waiting to be seated or pick up their takeout food.
“Now is not a good time to talk,” Tsadilas said. “But business is up, way up,” he said with a smile, pointing to the small crowd and tables packed with patrons, many of them speaking Hebrew.
Outside the diner, cars drove by slowly to view the display of “Kidnapped” posters and Israeli flags that Tsadilas said had outraged delivery service drivers and several regular customers.
“They would come here and try to pick up the food and then when they noticed the flags, they decided they were going to stand together and tell us either we take them down or they’re not going to pick up our food,” Tsadilas said.
