The sign is tongue-in-cheek, but the husband and wife team did it in the name of the safety of their customers and employees.
“Our new allowance,” the sign reads.
“$ 75 – If I need to hear why you disagree …”
Wayne LaCombe told CNN he got the idea after seeing a similar sign online.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s funny. I’m going to hang that up because it sends a message,’” he said. “And less than five minutes after I hung it up, customers coming in laughed and took pictures of it.”
To send the message home, one of their servants, an art student, painted a woman with a mask on the restaurant window with a caption that the masks are respectful, not political.
As of March 10, Governor Greg Abbott has relaxed restrictions designed to stop the spread of Covid-19, including doing away with the mask requirement and allowing all companies to reopen 100%. Abbott did this because active Covid-19 cases and hospital admissions had fallen to levels not seen in months.
LaCombe said he and his wife have received their first doses of the vaccine, but many of their staff have not yet been vaccinated.
The restaurant’s tables are spaced apart, capacity has been cut, the employees wear masks and wash their hands between each table, taking everyone’s temperature before entering the building. There is also hand sanitizer at each table.
He said two couples came in on Friday and told him it was the first time they had eaten at a restaurant since the pandemic started.
“We feel very honored and privileged that they have chosen us,” he said.
He said they have received great response from their customers and that a number of neighboring companies have congratulated them on making a statement, but has grumbled a bit online.
Kat LaCombe is a retired oncology nurse with 28 years of experience and commented on some of the criticism in a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The LaCombes opened their restaurant in October 2019 and had to close for two and a half months due to the pandemic.
Wayne LaCombe said he’s not sure the company can survive if they have to close again.
“We have a race that we haven’t finished yet, and if the numbers go up, our business goes down,” he said. “So yes, it is very urgent that we keep the numbers low.”