Center City braces for a controversial ‘Boycott Ride,’ as the community rallies behind Philadelphia’s Jewish-owned eateries

Restaurateurs in Center City were bracing Sunday for a controversial bike-ride boycott against six Jewish-owned eateries — and a counterprotest encouraging people to patronize the businesses.

The dueling demonstrations are the latest way increasingly fraught political and social discourse around the Israel-Hamas war is playing out in Philadelphia, eliciting ire and rebukes stretching from City Hall to the United States Congress.

» READ MORE: Planned protest against Jewish-owned Philly restaurants draws ire, security, and feelings of unease

Officials have denounced the “Boycott Ride” as antisemitic and hateful, while the area’s Jewish community has rallied behind the restaurants — some of which had lines hundreds of people deep Sunday morning.

“The public targeting of Jewish businesses should alarm every person of conscience,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said in a statement this week. “We cannot allow such hatred to become normalized in Philadelphia.”

Bike-ride organizers said in a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday that they stand against antisemitism and that they are focusing on the businesses because of their owners’ support for Israel.

Some who have condemned the bike ride have also criticized its timing: Monday is the 88th observance of Kristallnacht, organized attacks on Jewish communities in Nazi Germany in 1938. During the dayslong pogrom, Nazis assaulted and killed Jewish people, imprisoned about 26,000 Jewish men in concentration camps, and burned more than 1,400 synagogues.

In the statement, the organizers, Philly Bike On Your Left, said their “ride has been grossly misrepresented,” and that “any suggestions about the timing of our ride are simply false.”

Responding to a list of questions from The Inquirer via Instagram, Philly Bike On Your Left said, “I can assure you we had no idea when [Kristallnacht] was. That’s not something we would ever do.”

It’s unclear who is behind the account; the user direct messaging with The Inquirer declined to identify themselves, out of fear for their safety. Members of their group have received death threats and been doxxed, the statement said.

“Everyone has the right to peacefully protest and express their political views,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said in a statement this week. “But singling out businesses because their owners are Jewish is unacceptable and has no place in our city.”

As of 11 a.m. at Rittenhouse Square, the mood veered between combative and surreal. While some people walked their dogs, chatted, and lounged on park benches, Palestinian and Israeli flags flew overhead. Spontaneous singing of the Star-Spangled Banner breaking the tension — only for a scuffle to break out as people shouted “Jew hater” and “show us your face, coward!”

Nearby, someone chanted “end Jew hatred” as he joined the line outside Huda, one of the targeted business. Another person wrapped a tefillin around his arms, a Jewish practice of binding God’s word to the body. There were hundreds of people in line in front of Huda, apparently waiting to patronize the restaurant.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many cyclists will participate in the ride. Fleets of police cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, and law enforcement officers were seen nearby, surveying the crowd, as part of as part of increased safety measures ahead of the demonstration.

One activist who said she’ll be joining the ride, Carmen Guerrero of Montgomery County, wore the words “Stop Genocide” on her headband.

“I’m here because I am Native American,” Guerrero said. “The blood of my people had disappeared on this land. Now they are trying to disappear the people of Palestine.”

The focus on local restaurants, Guerrero said, is meant to draw attention to people who she said have helped finance Israel in the war.

“Think about it: Would you support these businesses if they were doing the same to your family?” Guerrero said.

A flyer for the “Boycott Ride” began circulating on social media as early as Oct. 30, 2026, promoting a bike ride to show pro-Palestinian solidarity and protest six businesses the organizers called “Zionist establishments”: Mac Mart, K’Far Cafe, Huda, Goldie, Dizengoff, and Schlesinger’s Deli. The widely circulated flyer reads, “No business for Zionists! These Zionist Establishments must go! Not in our city!”

“We firmly stand with indigenous Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and justice,” the organizers wrote in part.

K’Far Cafe, Dizengoff, and Goldie — as well as a handful of other restaurants throughout the city — are owned by CookNSolo, renowned Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov’s restaurant group. CookNSolo, Solomonov, and his business partner Steve Cook have previously come under scrutiny for fundraising more than $100,000 for the Friends of United Hatzalah in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Since then, Israel has responded with an offensive that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

On X, Gov. Josh Shapiro said the bike ride is “designed to intimidate and drive Jewish businesses out of our communities.”

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia) said the proximity to Kristallnacht “evokes the darkest chapters of history,” while Sen. John Fetterman called it a “sick parade of rank antisemitism.”

In a video, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told people who denounce the Israeli government or the war: “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s your target, the leadership of the Israeli government is your target, ... as opposed to blaming all Israelis, or all Jewish Israelis, or all Jews all over the world for their beliefs, for their faith, for their ethnicity.”

Many have thrown their support behind the restaurants and the broader Jewish community. A nonprofit, JewBelong, bought billboards across the city, urging people to “boycott the boycott ride,” as reactions and commentary continue to flood social media. Others have come to Philly Bike On Your Left’s defense: Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America called the trove of statements of politicians “bad-faith condemnations,” and nearly 20 pro-Palestine organizations had signed onto a statement of solidarity as of Sunday morning.

“The outpouring of love and support from all over the country has been overwhelming in the best way,” Mac Mart owner Marti Lieberman said in a statement this week.

“Every message, order, donation, and kind word has reminded our little team that we are not alone.”

A half-dozen Jewish owners of Philadelphia-area restaurants, contacted on the eve of the protest, declined to be interviewed about the issue, citing the heightened tensions.

“I have very strong opinions — just not ready to share them,” said one restaurateur.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Staff writer Michael Klein contributed to this report.