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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsanti-mask cafe to close
Fiddleheads Cafe in Mendocino, known for its controversial stances on the state's mask mandate during the pandemic, is closing for good after the new owners of the building decided to cancel its lease.The cafe's last day is July 4, owner Chris Castleman confirmed to SFGATE.
The building was recently sold, and the cafe's lease with the new owners Mac and Kim Hodges was canceled in June without explanation, Castleman said, just days after the cafe made national headlines in late May for adding a $5 fee for those who ordered food from his cafe with masks on.
Castleman said he was in talks to extend the lease for three months to September to allow for him to sell his business, but said he refused to sign the agreement when he saw the new terms. Among the conditions included in the month-to-month lease, along with a rent increase, were stipulations that there be no further publicity related to the business, of any kind, regarding mask wearing or vaccinations, and business will comply with any orders, laws, or mandates of government, according to a copy of the extension contract Castleman provided to SFGATE.
Castleman was also required to keep from making disparaging or harmful communications or actions or consequences of any kind that could impact other businesses, the landlord and the local community, the contract reviewed by SFGATE said. In addition, he was reportedly asked to remove all "controversial" signage from the cafe windows.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Fiddleheads-Cafe-Mendocino-closed-shuttered-mask-16282595.php
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)MagickMuffin
(16,078 posts)I'm glad he chose to be this stupid. No one to blame but himself.
Fritz Walter
(4,304 posts)Maybe Castleman could get a food truck, and travel from one GQP event to the next, spreading disentary along with his main course: dissent.
Aristus
(66,734 posts)Food trucks are subject to nearly-crippling sanitary regulations (deliberately put in place by lobbyists for the Restaurant Owners Association).
So, the upside is, any food you get from a compliant food truck is likely to be fresh, delicious, and sanitary.
The downside is, people who dislike having to follow health and safety regulations, like this guy, aren't going to want to work a food truck.
TexasTowelie
(113,298 posts)Harker
(14,216 posts)DemocraticPatriot
(4,624 posts)And the anti-masker is out of business.
Initech
(100,308 posts)Hekate
(91,492 posts)Uh, nope. None there.
Fritz Walter
(4,304 posts)Translation: "Schadenfreude is the most beautiful/sublime joy, because it comes from the heart."
7wo7rees
(5,128 posts)An Additional $5 Fee will Be Added If You Are Caught Bragging About Your Vaccine
While the proceeds were to go to a local domestic abuse shelter, the owner said, "It's about time that the proponents of these ineffective government measures start paying for the collateral damage they have collectively caused."
The shelter did not comment.
PsakiPswirli
(71 posts)Cruise ships fined $5,000 per incident if asking passengers if they are vaccinated. What could go wrong?
johnp3907
(3,742 posts)Its owner is a Deplorable.
hatrack
(59,658 posts)Fuck this guy.
cos dem
(904 posts)3catwoman3
(24,285 posts)market.
Caliman73
(11,764 posts)I am more prone to accept that Castleman is lying.
The story says the lease, "was canceled in June without explanation" then the story says that Castleman was in talks to extend the lease but refused to sign the contract which basically asked him to not hurt the other businesses in the building by continuing to be an asshole. Sounds like that was the reason right there.
He's an asshole, the new owners know that he is bad for business, they wanted to make sure that he was not hurting their investment, so they gave specific rules and he said "no".
I guess Castleman should buy his own building so that he can act like an asshole, with no one to answer for but himself.
pwb
(11,434 posts)He ruined his business with his policy is more like what really happened.
IronLionZion
(45,850 posts)I haven't had extra fees tacked on but I have had clerks say it's hard to understand people speaking through masks, which is understandable.
I saw an article where conservative coffee shops have become a thing in Trumpy areas where they want to avoid liberals.
Pinback
(12,194 posts)Folgers poured beneath a TV blaring Fox!
SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)Let them go to Texas and run their virus cafe
Warpy
(111,682 posts)When buildings get sold, the new owners look at "underperforming" spaces, knowing they can turn these over to some other business ready to pay more for the location. Or they're developers who cancel leases and jack up interim rents to the confiscatory level to empty the building prior to razing it.
At least in the short term, there will be one less health menace in Mendocino County.
Generic Brad
(14,282 posts)Too bad some folks think its a license for them to be obnoxious and not be held to account.
Bristlecone
(10,197 posts)The guy is shitty at business and life.
Xavier Breath
(3,760 posts)I had assumed the owner had fallen off the edge of the earth. That's a relief.
deurbano
(2,897 posts)other grift.