California cafe charges customers extra if they wear a face mask
A California cafe owner is charging customers who wear a face mask an extra fee.
A poster on the window at Fiddlehead’s Cafe in Mendocino read, “$5 fee added to orders placed while wearing a face mask,” SFGate reported.
Chris Castleman, owner of the cafe, told McClatchy News that he put the sign up “because the pro-mask people have been damaging our country for too long. It’s time to end the mandates and start focusing on reversing the collateral damage done by these government restrictions.”
The sign also states that customers “caught bragging” about their COVID-19 vaccines would get “an additional $5 fee” to their bill and that the money would be donated to “local charities assisting domestic abuse victims.”
Castleman said that the “reaction has been split 50/50.”
“It seems people either love it or hate it. And yes, most people seem happy to pay the $5 knowing it goes to a good cause,” he said. “We’ve been blessed to have raised over $2,000 so far, and we are going to keep the fundraiser going all summer long. Our plan is to support different local charities each week that have been overwhelmed by the negative consequences of the government lockdown and restrictions.”
Castleman shut down the cafe last year after he was fined for “pandemic safety violations,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The restaurant also incited controversy last month when Castleman offered 50% off orders for customers who threw their masks into the trash, McClatchy News previously reported.
A TikTok video showed a flyer posted on the window of the cafe, reading: “Throw your mask(s) in our trash bin and receive 50% off your order.”
Mendocino County is currently in the “yellow” tier of California’s COVID-19 reopening, meaning the county has “minimal” risk and most indoor businesses are open “with modifications.”
California has had more than 3.6 million coronavirus cases as of May 31, including 644 cases Monday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
This story was originally published May 31, 2021 at 1:55 PM with the headline "California cafe charges customers extra if they wear a face mask."