- December 15, 2025
Inside EZ Café, located off Palm Harbor Parkway, The Doobie Brothers’ “Listen to the Music” pumps through the speakers. The aroma of cold cuts floats through the room, which looks like a cross between an antique collectibles shop and a high school computer lab. Posters of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley line the wall.
It was Thursday afternoon, and four people were inside the Internet café, one of nine such establishments in Palm Coast. The Internet cafés, which offer Wi-Fi access and sell Internet phone cards for use on slot machines and online gambling websites, have been under local and state scrutiny. While the Florida Legislature hasn’t taken any action, the city’s six-month moratorium is on the verge of expiring, and the City Council is debating regulation.
Jill Biller, of Palm Coast, was one of the four inside trying her luck in the sweepstakes. She was there with her husband and her mother.
Biller, who has lived in Palm Coast for about a year, always saw EZ Café when she would visit the gas station in the same plaza. One day about eight months ago, she decided to peek her head inside to see what all the hoopla was about.
Since, she’s been hooked.
Biller said she visits one of the Internet cafés about two days a week, for about two hours each time. She typically comes in the evening — the time when it’s mostly standing room only because so many people are playing games.
Biller said a good day at the café is when she heads home with about $200. Conversely, she said she’ll lose about $60 on an off day.
Her mother, however, has won $2,500 and $1,500 payouts in the past few months.
Biller, who has been to about three or four different cafés, said she hasn’t seen anything bad happen at them.
“It’s comfortable; it’s enjoyable; it’s a little exciting,” Biller said. “It’s something different.”
EZ Café closes at midnight. Others in the city are open well into the late night and even all night, Biller added.
She said the ages of the customers vary, but most are between 30 and 60.
“I love it,” Biller said with a chuckle.
Seven calls in six months
In May 2011, Palm Coast enacted a six-month moratorium on Internet cafés, preventing any new establishments from opening. At the time, seven were open and four were in the permitting process. The moratorium was then extended, and there are nine cafés today.
The City Council’s decision came on the heels of an armed robbery at a Seminole County Internet café last April, when two armed men attempted to rob Allied Veterans Internet Café, in Apopka. The attempt went awry, and the security guard shot and killed one of the robbers. (Read more in the box on Page 5.)
Closer to home, crime has been minimal in the past six months at Palm Coast’s nine cafés, according to data provided by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
From Sept. 1, 2011, to Feb. 29, 2012, there were seven calls for service in Palm Coast. The most at one café was two; four of the cafés had zero calls. (See the full list of incidents on Page 1.)
“The data show that there’s really not a lot of crime at the Internet cafés,” said Capt. Mark Carman, of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Carman said he had his road deputies increase their presence around the cafés about two years ago.
“One of the reasons I don’t feel we have a problem with them is we keep a good check on them,” Carman said. “We get out and do walk-and-talks. I think our presence might keep the crime rate and calls for service lower than other places.”
Data vs. perception
In about a month, the City Council will vote on specific regulations. The cafés currently open would be grandfathered in. Some of the proposed regulations include not allowing a café within 1,000 feet of a school, church or park. Other possible regulations include limiting hours of operation and requiring security guards, cameras and transparent windows.
City Councilman Bill McGuire said at the March 13 workshop that the cafés shouldn’t be regulated if they aren’t proven to be a “menace to society.”
Meanwhile, Councilmen Frank Meeker and Bill Lewis were against cafés. Councilman Jason DeLorenzo and Mayor Jon Netts were in favor of regulations.
The issue highlights the constant struggle elected officials face: Do you vote based on data and expert opinion, or do you vote based on what your constituents say they want in the city?
“Where an impasse appears evident, I base my decision on what is best for the citizens,” McGuire said. “Often times, the citizens do not fully understand the issues and are not as close to the ramifications as are the councilmen.”
Netts said it depends on the issue at hand, but added that when it comes to public safety, health and welfare, “I’m going to go with what’s best for the community.”
Netts said he’s aware of the lack of criminal activity at the cafés. He wants it to stay that way.
“You have a business that attracts primarily older clientele and is an all-cash business,” Netts said. “I think the potential is there for criminal activity.”
Meeker’s main concern has always been public safety.
“If you can convince me that nothing will ever happen in Palm Coast as happened in Seminole County, that my fears for the public’s safety are not justified or warranted, I’ll reverse my stance and vote to allow as many as everybody wants,” Meeker said. “If you can’t guarantee the safety of our community, then I think caution has been shown to be the way to go.”
DeLorenzo said data vs. perception “is a delicate balance. I like to solicit and weigh resident input and rely on data and experts.”
He said because the state hasn’t determined the cafés are illegal gambling establishments, they shouldn’t be banned entirely.
“I support regulations such as separation from parks, schools and churches, residential areas, as well as nighttime security to protect citizens who may be in the vicinity,” DeLorenzo said.
The legality of the cafés is another issue, Netts added. Because the state has yet to take a stance on the cafés, they continue to be a gray area.
“In my mind, these things are gambling and there’s no question,” Netts said. “I’m not anti-gambling, but I feel the public needs some assurances that they are being conducted fairly and equitably.”
Lewis said he’s against the proliferation of Internet cafés.
“Government, in making decisions, doesn’t look at the narrow window of people who just want to have some fun,” Lewis said. “It must also look at the possibility that there is someone out there who wants to deprive you of having that fun.”
Lewis added that the balance that government strives to reach is very delicate with no room for error.
“Sometimes government gets it right and sometimes it’s a wee bit off,” he said. “Let’s hope that we do not attract the problems that some predict will follow a proliferation of cafés.”
The city’s moratorium is set to expire May 4. In the meantime, Carman said the Sheriff’s Office will maintain status quo.
“The only thing the City Council can do is regulate them,” he said. “And the Sheriff’s Office is going to abide by and enforce any ordinance the City Council approves.”
Email Andrew O’Brien at andrew@ palmcoastobserver.com.
SEMINOLE COUNTY
About a year ago, two armed men attempted to rob the Allied Veterans Internet Café, in Seminole County.
A shootout with the security guard left one of the robbers dead.
Following the April 2011 fatal incident, Seminole County enacted a ban on such establishments. The café owners lashed out and banded together to sue the county.
The lawsuit was led by Allied Veterans of the World, a nonprofit military veterans group affiliated with more than 30 cafés in Florida — one in Palm Coast.
Initially, a federal judge issued a temporary order stopping Seminole from enforcing the ordinance.
However, the same judge lifted the order last May and ruled against the café owners.
Earlier this month, the case went before a federal appeals court, in Jacksonville.
That appeals court stated in a March 21 ruling that Seminole County can continue its ban on the Internet cafés.
INCIDENT REPORTS IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS
Between Sept. 1, 2011, and Feb. 29, 2012, there were seven total calls for service among the nine Internet cafés in Palm Coast. No café had more than two calls.
Allied Veterans of the World
Around 1:02 p.m. Jan. 14, the Sheriff’s Office was called because there was a vehicle with a flat tire abandoned in the parking lot. The vehicle was towed by the Internet café.
Total calls: 1
EZ Café
There were two incidents at this café. On Oct. 8, a female exposed herself to the customers. The woman left before the Sheriff’s Office got to the call. Then, around 11:30 p.m. Nov. 21, juveniles were hanging around the business. Employees asked them to leave, and they were gone before the Sheriff’s Office arrived.
Total calls: 2
Neptune Internet Sweepstakes
No calls for service in the last six months.
Total calls: 0
Copacabana Internet Café
There was one call, and it was for an abandoned vehicle in the parking lot.
Total calls: 1
Lucky Day Sweepstakes
In February, a call was made in reference to a call of a possible intoxicated homeless person in the parking lot. The subject was issued a trespass warning and picked up by his wife.
Total calls: 1
Palm Coast Internet Café
No calls for service in the last six months.
Total calls: 0
Sunny Day Internet Café
No calls for service in the last six months.
Total calls: 0
The Lucky Palm
No calls for service in the last six months.
Total calls: 0
Thunderbird Internet Café
Two calls were made in the last six months — both in January. On Jan. 1, an intoxicated female was “passed out” on the sidewalk in front of the café. The female was arrested. Then, on Jan. 24, the call was a false alarm.
Total calls: 2
