Community supports Pamela’s Diner after G-20 vandalism

Oakland’s Pamela’s Diner was busier than usual yesterday.

At 11:30 a.m., there was a 25-minute wait to be seated. Some patrons came partially to support the business after some protesters broke three double-pane windows on Thursday night.

“You don’t need to give me an extra reason to come out here,” Pitt freshman Casey Luongo said. “But [the vandalism] really made me mad.”

Tim Blosat, a co-owner of the diner, shrugged off the increase in patronage as hype from the Obamas, but he said he is thankful for all of the people who came to support the diner.

“We like to think the business is here because of who we are in the community,” Blosat said, adding that he thought it was important to open on Friday. Pamela’s Diner is open seven days per week.

Blosat said he and his business partner, Michele Mazzella, stayed up late cleaning and working between Thursday and Friday.

He said people have made supportive signs, one of which is displayed in the window next to a boarded window, offering to set up fundraisers and donate money.

Staff put up “Open” signs on the board that covers the windows. A few people wrote supportive messages on the signs.

“The majority of us hate that this happened. This is not what anarchists are about. Hopefully, Starbucks goes tonight. [Peace sign, heart, anarchist symbol],” one message read.

Blosat said he heard that someone smashed the diner windows around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and that he and Mazzella arrived shortly after and stayed at the diner until about 2 a.m., cleaning and watching protesters.

He said city workers put up the boards promptly and that he expects the new windows to be installed this week.

This is the first time the store has been vandalized since it opened more than 23 years ago, Blosat said.

“I just don’t understand any reasoning behind [the destruction],” he said. “What kind of cause are they trying to show?”

Blosat and Mazzella’s diner is the only one of the six locations independently owned. Pam Cohen and Gail Klingensmith own the other locations.