Restaurant Only Serves Unvaccinated, Provokes Health Officials

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — Are you unvaccinated and sick of wearing face masks during the coronavirus pandemic? There is one place you are welcome with open arms: Basilico's Pasta e Vino in the city of Huntington Beach.

Basilico's is a tiny Italian restaurant at the corner of Brookhurst Street and Hamilton Avenue. There is an outdoor dining patio, an American flag out front and a sign taped to the front window that has gotten all of Orange County talking.

"Notice, proof of being UNvaccinated required"

As coronavirus cases continue to grow in Orange County, many businesses request that visitors wear masks if unvaccinated. Not Tony Roman, the owner of Basilico's.

Currently, there is no mask mandate given by Orange County Health Officials, leaving it up to businesses to decide whether masks are or are not required. It isn't clear how Roman would get the proof he's demanding upon entrance or that he even plans to enforce his rule. He is merely fighting for the rights of those who don't wish to be vaccinated, he told NBC4LA in a released statement.

The number of Orange County residents getting sick with the coronavirus is growing daily, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported. It tracks the most recent statistics and whether the newly ill are vaccinated or not. If the county were still under Gov. Gavin Newsom's now discontinued blueprint for a safe economy, it would have dropped from the yellow (moderate) to orange (widespread) tier, according to figures released Tuesday.

Eight people in every 100,000 tested are infected with the coronavirus, according to county statistics. That number has doubled in just a week. Hospitalizations are on the rise, as are the number of residents in intensive care.

Only a fraction of positive coronavirus cases were reported among the fully vaccinated, the agency reported. The largest number of cases were spread among the unvaccinated, most with the delta variant of the virus.

Wearing masks is a way to stop the virus's spread among the unvaccinated, California public health officials said Wednesday. Their guidance aligns with new recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said that everyone should wear masks in indoor public settings, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.

The announcement by the California Department of Public Health is only a recommendation, not a mandate.

"The Delta variant has caused a sharp increase in hospitalizations and case rates across the state," Dr. Tomas J. Aragon, director of the department and state public health officer, said in a statement. "We are recommending masking in indoor public places to slow the spread while we continue efforts to get more Californians vaccinated."

A 'Constitutional Battleground'

But Roman told NBC4LA that he feels his restaurant has become a "Constitutional battleground" because of his anti-masking and now anti-vaccination policy.

"The American way of life is under attack," he told the station in a prepared statement. "And I am blessed to be on the front lines of this battle in defense of Liberty and Freedom, willing to put everything at risk for it, pledging our business as a 'Constitutional Battleground" since day one of the lockdowns on March 19th, 2020."

The restaurant's Yelp page is also under attack, thanks to recent media coverage. Yelp declared that "due to media activity," the page was being monitored by Yelp.

"This business recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news," Yelp said. "While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events."

Roman said his restaurant has never complied with mask policies. That is confirmed by Yelp reviewers from earlier in the pandemic.

"With the new and aggressive push for mandatory vax policies, we couldn't resist," he told the station about his tongue-in-cheek entry requirement.

In California, more than 44 million residents, or just over 52 percent, are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. About 63 percent of residents have taken at least one dose of the vaccine. In Orange County, where Roman's restaurant is, 3.6 million vaccine doses have been given.

The CDC on Tuesday changed its mask-wearing guidance, recommending face coverings for everyone indoors in areas with "high" or "substantial" COVID-19 transmission.

That includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.

So far in Southern California, only Los Angeles County has followed suit in requiring masks indoors.

According to state health officials, more than 90 percent of California's population is in areas with "high" or "substantial" transmission of COVID- 19.

As for Roman, he's keeping the doors open and the conversation going.

"Hopefully, most are smart enough to read between the lines," he said. "Otherwise, we will just sit back and have fun watching their heads explode over it."