Joseph Sabino Mistick: Love on the menu at the Square Café

One morning about 10 years ago I stumbled into the Square Cafe just after dawn, and I had a solid breakfast among some familiar faces. I was happy to see my old friend Rick Sebak there. He was filming “Breakfast Special 2” for WQED.

Sebak is known for preserving all things Pittsburgh, especially those places and people that have made a difference here. As for breakfast spots, he was looking for neighborhood places “where the early morning camaraderie is as important as the scrambled eggs. We wanted to find places where you would feel justified if you had to stand in a line to get a seat.”

Sebak found just that at Sheree Goldstein’s Square Café, then located in Regent Square. Sheree plays it down when someone makes a big deal out of the haven she has created.

“It’s not that complicated,” she says. “We’re just flippin’ eggs here.” But her customers know better, because the Square is one of those rare businesses where people feel at home.

Several times during the peak of the virus, Sheree had to shut down her restaurant, most recently losing 25% of her staff to the latest strain. So it was no surprise when she announced last week that proof of vaccination would be required to dine at the eatery, which moved to East Liberty in late 2020. To her, it was the right thing to do for her employees and her customers.

In this age of belligerence and ignorance, it also was no surprise that social media haters would attack her for protecting her people as best she can. Among the wishes that her business will fail, one unhappy anti-vaxxer posted, “What you are doing is … practicing medical discrimination & it’s a disgusting display.”

These haters seem to think that they are the only people with rights, and you can bet that they know nothing about the Square Café. They should know that those of us who are rooting for the Square Café and other great places to survive have rights, too.

No regular person — someone who is not a public official or politician or columnist — is ready for the vile names and ill wishes you can get these days on the internet for doing the right thing. As Sheree told WTAE-TV’s Sheldon Ingraham last week, “It is gut-wrenching. It made me feel so sad and hurt.”

The angry unvaccinated seem be growing angrier as their world is growing smaller. More employers are requiring vaccinations for employees, and many who refuse are furloughed or dismissed. Some public gatherings now require proof of vaccination. And more restaurants are requiring proof every day.

I have given up on trying to persuade folks to get vaccinated. I have even come to grips with the fact that some people are going to believe what they believe no matter what our scientists and physicians say. I just don’t want them around me or my loved ones until this thing is over. In the meantime, they should respect the rights of the rest of us to live as safely as possible.

As for Sheree and the Square Café, they’ll be all right. As Sheree said, “We’re full of love here. We cook with love, we serve with love.”