Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #523

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Mendocino Restaurant Adds $5 Fee For Customers Wearing Masks
By Stephen Ellison
Wear a mask, pay a penalty. That's the unusual mes- sage a Mendocino restaurant owner is offering his cus- tomers.
Signs posted in the windows and at the register
of Fiddleheads Cafe on Lansing Street read: "$5 FEE ADDED TO ORDERS PLACED WHILE WEARING A FACE MASK." And in the fine print below that message, it adds that anyone over- heard boasting about receiving a vaccine would get another $5 sur- charge.
Owner Chris Castleman told NBC Bay Area some customers have paid the $5 fee while others have expressed shock and out- rage. He says the "fee" ultimately is an optional dona-
tion as it goes to charities assisting domestic abuse victims.
"Customers either love it or hate it," he said via email. "There are people who refuse to pay it;Iguessa$5 donation to chari- ty is too much for them. Others
have gladly paid it knowing that it goes to a good cause. I don't force anyone to pay, I give them the freedom of choice, which seems to be a foreign concept in these parts of the country."
The latest signs
shouldn't come as a surprise as Castleman is not shy about expressing his political views and has previously posted several highly political messages railing against the pan- demic restrictions.
Another sign
posted at the restaurant in April read: "THROW YOUR MASK(S) IN OUR TRASH BIN AND RECEIVE 50% OFF YOUR ORDER."
Yet another sign that has since been removed read: "GET YOUR
FREE COVID-19 VACCINE CARD HERE!" Alongside that message was a photocopy of what appeared to be an official COVID-19 vacci- nation record card.
In June 2020, Castleman tem- porarily closed the restaurant and boarded it up after receiving a notice of a $10,000 citation from county health officials, according to
the Press Democrat. A mes- sage written on the plywood read: “Closed by order of Mendocino County.”
Mendocino County is in the yellow tier for COVID-19 reopening, mean- ing restaurants can operate indoors at a maxi- mum of 50% capacity, and masks are required when diners are not eating or drinking.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine