Few people came to symbolize the frustration, fear and anger of restaurant owners to the ban on outdoor dining than Angela Marsden, owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill in Sherman Oaks.
When Los Angeles County imposed the rules in the wake of a deadly spike in COVID-19 in November, she became world famous for a video she posted in which she tearfully described how the ban was upending her business and questioning the fairness of closing her down while catering services for a Hollywood shoot operated nearby.
“I’m losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me, and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio, which is right over here,” she said in the viral video. “And people wonder why I’m protesting and why I have had enough.... We cannot survive. My staff cannot survive.”