Sherman Oaks restaurant owner shares her frustration over LA County dining ban in emotional video

Amy Powell Image
Saturday, December 5, 2020
Sherman Oaks restaurant owner vents anger over dining ban
The owner of a Sherman Oaks restaurant expressed her anger and frustration over L.A. County's outdoor dining ban in a gut-wrenching video.

SHERMAN OAKS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The owner of a Sherman Oaks restaurant expressed her anger and frustration over Los Angeles County's outdoor dining ban in a gut-wrenching video.

Angela Marsden, the owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill, posted a video on social media after she saw production tents and tables set up in a parking lot just a few feet from the outdoor dining area she's not allowed to use.

People involved in the television production were seen dining under the tents.

"Everything I own is being taken away from me and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio," Marsden says in the video.

"They have not given us money and they have shut us down. We cannot survive. My staff cannot survive," she also says.

Marsden has owned the restaurant for 10 years. She says she spent around $80,000 setting up an outdoor dining area and making changes to meet L.A. County's health requirements, but she's run out of loan money and can't afford to offer takeout, so for now, she's closing.

Marsden says she went to the restaurant to pay her staff and was in shock when she saw the production tents.

"The day they come to get their last paycheck, you punch me in the face and say that this is dangerous. Right here is dangerous. But just walk over there and eat," Marsden told Eyewitness News.

Marsden and other small business owners are making signs, preparing to hold a protest at the home of L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

Marsden says she hopes to reopen her business, but she is not sure how it will survive without financial assistance.