Trump-loving café owner tries to lure customers to his new diner in trendy suburb with free offer – after boycott over gay slurs closed his last one

• Mark Da Costa’s new cafe is open
• Locals have vowed to boycott it 
• PODCAST: Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs, plus shock call for Death Penalty in Luigi Mangioni case. Listen to Welcome to MAGAland here.

By HARRISON CHRISTIAN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 08:34 BST, 7 April 2025 | Updated: 08:36 BST, 7 April 2025

A new cafe has opened with a promise of free coffee, despite outrage from locals over past derogatory comments the owner made about the LGBTQI+ community.

Mark Da Costa closed his previous restaurant, the vegan eatery Hale and Hearty, in 2020 after writing on its Facebook page that the venue was a ‘Donald Trump safe zone’ and the ‘gay community’ wasn’t welcome. 

He spent the intervening years driving Ubers and performing musical gigs, before his new venue, Bueno Eatery, opened on Saturday.

Mr Da Costa appears to face an uphill battle with locals of the progressive St Peters in the city’s inner-west, where he has occupied a site recently vacated by a popular Palestinian cafe.

He told Daily Mail Australia the cafe had ‘started off nicely’, despite residents vowing they would bowcott it. 

On Monday morning the eatery tried to entice customers by offering free coffee via its Instagram page. 

He said diner numbers were less than in the ‘glory days’ of Hale and Hearty but ‘locals have been kind’ and he was grateful.

He also remained optimistic about the cafe’s success, saying it would transform into a ‘clean eating diner’ offering lunch and dinner instead of breakfast from next month.  

Mark Da Costa (pictured) appears to face an uphill battle with locals of the progressive St Peters in Sydney’s inner-west

Bueno Eatery (pictured) tried to entice customers by offering free coffee on Monday morning

‘I truly believe we will pack that space out during the evenings.’

Asked about the views he expressed in 2020, Mr Da Costa said, ‘I’m so over 2020 and Trump. Politics I’ve grown to learn is best left to the politicians.’ 

In 2020 he had written on his old restaurant’s Facebook page that ‘leftist vegans aren’t welcome’.

‘The gay community who were quick to judge even though we supported them during the plebiscite aren’t welcome,’ he posted.

‘We only want free thinking kind people who enjoy plant-based food and nothing else.’

He also asked another man in the comment section of a post: ‘Are you a p**f?’

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Trump-loving café owner tries to lure customers to his new diner in trendy suburb with free offer – after boycott over gay slurs closed his last one

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk