Local Turkish Coffee Shop In Central Jersey Sparks Social Media Firestorm

A small coffee shop in central Jersey has recently celebrated its 5th anniversary by taking a political stance that has fired up social media.

The cafe, The Baklava Lady in Englishtown, specializes in vegan Turkish offerings.

However, it's not their menu that people are talking about.

Signs in front of the cafe are drawing strong responses.

The signs in question say,

“We only serve those who believe in peace for all, Free Palestine, Hands off Lebanon, Real food, real values.”

The Cafe has also spread its message on social media.

Photo: The Baklava Lady

The Cafe has become ground zero for both Pro-Israel protestors as well as Pro-Palestinian protestors.

Over the weekend protestors from both sides gathered in front of the cafe.

The protests, while loud at times, remained peaceful.

Supporters of the cafe, many of whom wore masks, waved Palestinian flags, and held a banner splattered with red paint, declaring, "Zionism is Terrorism."

The owner of the cafe, Naciye Emren told APP.com that she's been posting pro-Palestinian content on social platforms since before October 7th.

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The current conflict in the Middle East began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas, stormed into Israel killing 1200 citizens and taking 250 hostages.

Many of the hostages were teens and others who were attending a concert at the time of the attack.

The Cafe's Yelp page has seen a jump in reviews in the past few weeks.

Photo: Yelp

Many of the reviews are positive, although it should be pointed out that they are suspicious because almost all of them are from out of town.

This is something that Yelp has noticed as well and has tagged the reviews as unusual.

The response on their social page was swift.

Supporters of Israel offered opinions like this from Naomi M, who along with pictures from October 7th said,

What “Free Palestine” means.
A euphemism for brutal rape, torture and barbarism, the way “relocation to the east” was used by the Nazis to disguise their intentions of gassing and cremating Jews.

While others, like Maria AK, countered,

Keep speaking up!!
LONG LIVE RESISTANCE

Jim B.

"Anyone who supports terror groups like Hamas should be ashamed. How about a nice message on your stupid sign to release the hostages? You know the ones they took on 10/7 after murdering and raping civilians and babies. You’re in the corner of those animals?? I hope this place goes out of business before my comments are taken down. Shameful."

Another poster wrote,

"Your family of Anti-Zionists has grown worldwide!! We love and support you!! Putting your livelihood on the line and being what some would call risky, is what we need more of. We all need a line drawn that will not be crossed. Thank you for your humanity. Love and blessings."

A quick scan of the comments reveals that many of those commenting, are not local, and perhaps a poster named Jason, summed it up best,

"I love all the comments of support from people all over the world. Unfortunately for the business, none of those people will ever be customers. A lot of people who actually live in the area will never, ever patronize this discriminatory business."

Best coffee shops & cafes near NJ beaches

When it comes to food, New Jersey is known for many things such as pizza and pork roll. Don't count us out when it comes to coffee.

With all the hustle and bustle involved in the average New Jersey resident's day, coffee is essential. It doesn't matter whether you're living in the cities of North Jersey or the vacation spots at the shore.

In fact, as the former owner of two Jersey shore coffee houses, Coffee Dot Comedy in Sea Isle City and the Daily Grind in Ocean Grove, I know firsthand how much people at the Jersey shore love their coffee.

With respect to that, I asked my social media following where the best coffee houses at the Jersey Shore were, especially since my two places no longer exist.

Below is what they came up with. (And see this other article for their coffee shop and cafe recommendations for Central Jersey.)

Gallery Credit: Jordan Jansson