A cafe in California is charging people $5 for wearing face masks

The same cafe offered customers a 50 per cent discount from their order if they threw their face masks in the bin.

A cafe in Mendocino, California wants to charge customers $5 for wearing a face mask. Picture: NBC

A cafe in the north of California is causing controversy, after putting up a sign that states it will charge customers $5 if they’re wearing a face mask.

Chris Castleman, 34, owner of Fiddleheads Cafe in Mendocino, put the sign up last weekend with what seemed like a very big agenda behind it.

“I don’t think $5 to charity is too much to ask from mask wearing customers who claim to care so much about the community they live in,” Mr Castleman toldNBC Newson Friday.

He claims the cover charge for the first two weeks will go to Project Sanctuary, which is an organisation that combats domestic abuse.

The rest of the money will then go to another non-profit.

A cafe in Mendocino, California wants to charge customers $5 for wearing a face mask. Picture: NBC

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“It’s about time the proponents of these ineffective government measures start paying for the collateral damage they have collectively caused,” Mr Castleman said.

In March, the same cafe put up a sign saying that any customer who throws their face mask in the bin would receive 50 per cent off their orders.

They also planned to put yet another $5 fee to people who were “caught bragging” about getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

The cafe owner says the money is going to charity. Picture: Instagram

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Mr Castleman insists to the publication that he doesn’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,” he said.

The owner complied to the temporary mandates which required kerbside service only, but claimed that masks for servers and other workers was too much.

“I don’t believe in mask-wearing,” Mr Castleman said. “Our customer base has been strongly aligned with our beliefs, but I think some are really angry at our cafe.”

In 2020, Mr Castleman had to close his cafe in June after the Mendocino local officials said that face masks were not an option.

“The government shut everything down,’ Mr Castleman said. “Everyone wearing a mask is complicit.

“It’s their choice,” he continued. “They can choose what business they support. They can go to any other business in my county, state.”

As of today, California has over 60,000 Covid-19 deaths, with 3.79 million confirmed cases, reports The New York Times.

So far, 42 per cent of the state is fully vaccinated, while 56 per cent have received at least one dose.