An Australian-owned café in Los Angeles has denied accusations of racial discrimination after a viral video alleged the venue deliberately seated Asian customers away from others.
Great White, a popular café on Melrose Avenue, went viral last week after TikTok user Cassidy Cho claimed Asian diners were being seated in one corner of the restaurants away from other patrons.
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but they put all the Asians in one corner. It’s all white people in the main seating area.” She said in the video.
The clip has been viewed more than 1.6 million times, prompting widespread backlash and claims of racial profiling.
However, other customers have since spoken out in defence of the café, saying their experiences were markedly different.
Local woman Irene Wisniewski, who is of Asian descent, visited the venue with her husband this week and said she did not experience discriminatory treatment.
“I was greeted by a Black host and served by an Asian waitress,” she said, adding that she and her husband – who “gets mistaken for being white” – were not seated in the corner, contrary to the viral claims.
Wisniewski shared footage from inside the restaurant, showing several groups of Asian diners seated in the middle of the café.
Other patrons also defended the venue on social media.
One Asian content creator said, “They are nice to me when I come in and let me pick my seat when it isn’t busy.”
Another added, “I went here and it was me (Filipino), and my friends (Thai, Japanese and Korean) and they sat us in a great spot on the patio and the service was awesome.”
Older clips of the café posted prior to the controversy also show patrons of various backgrounds seated throughout the restaurant, including on the outer corners.
The café’s Australian co-owners, Sam Trude and Sam Cooper, have strongly rejected the allegations, calling them “completely false.”
In a statement to news.com.au, Cooper and Trude said: “Great White is named after a shark. It has nothing to do with race.
“Any notion that we have mistreated customers or employees or seated people based on their ethnicity is absolutely outrageous and completely false. Everyone is welcome here.”
People close to the business said the owners were deeply saddened by the allegations and remain proud of the café’s diverse staff and community.
The Melrose café opened in November 2022 and quickly became known for its celebrity clientele – with Justin Bieber reportedly among its regulars.
The brand was originally founded in Australia by Cooper and Trude, who said it was created to fill “a gap in the market for an all-day, fast-casual café.”
Images: TikTok
