The signal is tongue-in-cheek, however the husband and spouse crew did it within the identify of conserving their prospects and staff protected.
“Our new surcharge,” the signal reads.
“$75 – If I have to hear why you disagree…”
Wayne LaCombe informed CNN that he acquired the concept after seeing a comparable signal on-line.
“I thought, ‘Oh, that’s funny. I’m gonna put that up because it does send a message,'” he mentioned. “And not five minutes after I put it up customers coming in were laughing and taking pictures of it.”
To drive the message dwelling, one in all their servers, an artwork scholar, painted a lady carrying a masks on the restaurant’s window with a caption that mentioned masks are respectful, not political.
Effective March 10, Gov. Greg Abbott loosened restrictions meant to cease the unfold of Covid-19, together with getting rid of the masks requirement and permitting all companies to reopen 100%. Abbott did so as a result of lively Covid-19 circumstances and hospitalizations had been down to ranges not seen in months.
LaCombe mentioned he and his spouse have gotten their first doses of the vaccine, however lots of their employees are not but vaccinated.
The restaurant’s tables are spaced out, they’ve minimize down on capability, staff put on masks and wash their arms between going to every desk and so they take everybody’s temperature earlier than they enter the constructing. There can also be hand sanitizer at each desk.
He mentioned that two {couples} got here in on Friday and informed him that it was the primary time that they had eaten in a restaurant because the pandemic began.
“We feel very honored and privileged that they have chosen us,” he mentioned.
He mentioned they’ve gotten a nice response from their prospects and a few neighboring enterprise have congratulated them for making a assertion, however there has been some grumbling on-line.
Kat LaCombe is a retired oncology nurse with 28 years expertise and has responded to among the criticism in a publish on the restaurant’s Facebook web page.
The LaCombes opened their restaurant in October 2019 and had to shut for two-and-a-half months due to the pandemic.
Wayne LaCombe mentioned he is undecided the enterprise can survive in the event that they have to shut once more.
“We have a race that we have not finished, and when the numbers go up our business goes down,” he mentioned. “So yes, it’s very urgent that we keep the numbers down.”