Actually we never went in because they had a sign on the door that said Masks were Required.
This restaurant only recently opened in my small town in rural county. They only serve breakfasts on Saturday am. We were the only car in their lot other than their workers. Was the food ok? I wondered. How come no one else was there?
We noted the open sign and walked up to the door. When we saw the sign that masks were required we walked away.
One of the workers or the owner opened the door and ran out to say we are open. We said yes we knew and that you mandate masks so we will be going elsewhere.
They just lost a customer and some revenue they probably needed since there were no other customers in their restaurant. Knowing this rural conservative town.. they probably have lost a ton of other customers here, too. People here in general don't want to wear the masks.
I suspect they won't last the year.
You were too tough on them. They are a new enterprise, maybe they never ran their own business before, and they had to find their way as they went along. I appreciate this kind of behaviour - starting something, making something.
What if they thought requiring masks was what their customers wanted? What if they themselves truly believe - thanks to endless pressure from the fake news - that masks are a great idea?
I would have given them a chance. When the owner came out I would have said yes we would like to come in but you must forget about the mask stuff. A good chance they might have said yes. Educate people instead of reflexively taking a combative stance.
The media trains them with stimulus/response, rewarding them for behaving in the desired way. So undo it by doing the exact same thing. Train these people. That's how they got into this mess in the first place, by being so easily trained.