It should have been a typical Monday lunch rush at Falafel King on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. But a day after a suspected hate crime attack in the Colorado city, owner Avner Gilady and his staff were getting question after question.

 "(There is) some strangeness in the air," he told CBS Colorado. "I don't see our regulars. It's other people that we've never seen before."

The business is located directly across the mall from the old Boulder County Courthouse where the disturbing attack happened. Gilady has owned it for more than 40 years. At 24 years old, he to the United States, landed in Denver and wound up in Boulder where he has remained to this day. While he has typically participated in the Run for Their Lives walks, which raise awareness for hostages still in Hamas captivity after the Oct. 7 attacks, he wasn't there on Sunday afternoon.

At the conclusion of Sunday's walk, 45-year-old Egyptian national Mohamed Sabry Soliman threw homemade Molotov cocktails at the walkers, injuring at least a dozen before he was detained by police. He is currently in custody and appeared on Monday in Boulder County Court, where he is standing trial on a multitude of charges.

Throughout the afternoon, Gilady and his employees fielded questions from patrons and passers by. Some asked how they were doing and others asked if they knew anyone from the walk. Avner said he knew four of the injured walkers personally. Those who weren't caught up on the news wondered aloud about the substantial media presence on the Pearl Street Mall. Through it all, he and his staff prepared their food. Baba Ghanoush, gyros and falafel.

 "People get together over food, he said. "It's always over food and they love it and we love it as Israelis and we share happiness together."

The falafel, in particular, is a food item that can double as a microcosm of the greater conflict. Its origins are hotly debated, and who makes it best is a matter of opinion. In past years, Gilady has welcomed everyone into his restaurant where they've been willing to meet, eat and sometimes discuss the world at large if the patrons so choose. They may have a difference of opinions on where the falafel may have come from, he told CBS Colorado, but everyone could agree that it was delicious.

But now things have changed. Sometimes, he explained, people ask if he is Israeli and when he tells them, they may leave the business. What was once a simple entryway to understanding -- food and a cup of coffee -- is not as simple as it once was. As the entirety of the Pearl Street Mall reopened in Boulder on Monday, he wondered if a tragedy like this even had the capability to bring people together anymore.

"Things like this are supposed to bring us together but," he paused, "I don't know if I see it."

Whether he knows it or not, his restaurant now stands in direct contrast to the horrific display of division that occurred just across the mall. The photos on the wall, taken by Gilady during his travels, include a Jordanian woman in hijab and an Israeli woman sitting under a Hebrew poem in Jerusalem. His coffee is made with beans sourced from Israel but made in the typical Arabic method. The restaurant, by virtue of its existence across the street from what is being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime and terror attack, has become an unwitting symbol of future optimism of a communal gathering spot for all people.

As the Boulder Jewish community begins the holiday of Shavuot, held 50 days after Passover in commemoration of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Gilady hopes that the public will still be willing to come out in the face of tragedy. To walk in solidarity with those injured in the attack and try to find a common ground again.

"Hopefully people are not intimidated by what happened here yesterday and they will come and show support for the community," he said.