BBQ restaurant De Kiet in Eindhoven was open for business this weekend despite lockdown measures. Customers were invited to sit inside, and a sign outside the door read; “No face mask? No problem. Live a little.”
The restaurant received a final warning from the municipality, reports RTL Nieuws. Should they break corona measures again, the government will close their doors indefinitely.
Left in the cold by The Hague
In a video posted on Facebook, the owners expressed their frustrations with the extended corona measures, stating they have been “left in the cold by The Hague” for months. “F*ck it,” they say, “we are open from now on.”
They go on to highlight the pain that corona measures caused businesses and workers in 2020, how many are going bankrupt and had to fire workers. “We can’t wait a day longer for ‘hopeful’ news from The Hague. We have already seen that they are not going to help us. Are you an entrepreneur and do you feel powerless? Get up and stand up for your staff and your business,” they say.
The video received a lot of positive responses, as people called the owners “brave” and “heroes.”
Government intervention
According to Omroep Brabant, several people were eating inside the restaurant on Sunday night with no masks on. Around 10 PM, shortly after the regional paper published their story on the restaurant, police cars drove past but no action was taken.
The owners then sent customers outside and returned to offering take-away meals only. Later in the evening, the restaurant received a final warning. The mayor of Eindhoven has the power to close any restaurant permanently who are not following corona guidelines. This will be the case for De Kiet if they are found breaking the rules again.
What do you make of this restaurant’s behaviour? Tell us in the comments below.
Feature Image: Sandra Seitamaa/Unsplash
Would be interested if they were eating and using masks at the same time.