Restaurant owner receives support after experiencing anti-Asian tirade

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The Delray Beach community is rallying together around an Asian restaurant after its owner received racial slurs.

A group of people was eating and drinking at the Ramen Lab Eatery on Sunday to stand in solidarity against racism in the city of Delray Beach.

"I said you know what, the bad guys are out there, we can be the good guys. bring in more customers than he had before in response. It is something physical and visible that I could think of," said June Neal, organizer.

"We're here to support him and show him that most people are not like that," said Carolyn Walsh, who came to dine as part of the solidarity.

This all stems after the owner of the eatery recorded a group of men yelling anti-Asian slurs on July 15.

He said they started verbally attacking him after he asked them to leave once their restaurant closed.

He posted the video on social media and has gotten messages of support from around the world - even from the Delray Beach interim city manager.

"What we saw in the video is really uncanny and it shouldn’t be tolerated at all," said Mark Offerman. "Racism and bigotry is an evil combination, it's a dastardly act. What we saw here is not representative of the place we call home."

"I want everybody to know that that was not OK, and that is not who we are. It's not acceptable and we will not tolerate it," said Telene Thomas.

"Nothing but gratitude and I am glad we can turn something negative into a positive and just share some love," said Louis Grayson, owner of Ramen Lab Eatery. "Thank you so much, everybody."

Group organizers said they hope by coming to eat at the restaurant Sunday night it will be a way to show they'll fight racism with more than just criticism.

For Grayson, he hopes this unfortunate incident can become an opportunity to compel other members of the Asian community to speak out against racism and share their experiences.

"Our culture, in general, is more conservative than others. I think it's happened so much that we sort of either don’t say anything or let it go," said Grayson. "Now with the whole internet and social media and everything that is happening, it's nice to have that voice and to be heard and bring awareness to people."

Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic University's Asian Student Union will be hosting the same kind of event at the restaurant next week Thursday.