PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A handful of Philadelphia area restaurants are implementing vaccination policies for guests who want to dine indoors.
That request is causing quite an uproar.
"I was very much not expecting for it to blow up in the way that it did," said Olivia Caceres, the general manager of Martha on East York Street. Her restaurant was among the first in Philadelphia to require customers to show proof of vaccination in order to dine indoors.
"There is no mandate," she said. "We're kind of off to fend for ourselves."
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Martha had to shut off comments online, because they were receiving so much hate, something that was not limited to their social media.
"We are getting phone calls from people who are angered by our policy, or emails," Caceres said.
"Unfortunately, we're looked at like we're the bad guy."
However, Ben Fileccia with the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association said that restaurant's policy wasn't necessarily novel.
"We have been seeing large restaurant groups from across the country start to mandate proof of vaccinations for their guests," he said.
"These restaurants that are requiring vaccination, that is also their personal choice."
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Caceres said after the year they've had, they're just trying to stay in business by keeping people healthy.
"To face another shut down and not have any means of income, no one should have to experience that," she added.
"We are very much trying to make sure that our staff can remain healthy and that we can remain open."
Delanjo Hylton of Philadelphia said, however, he wouldn't dine at a restaurant with a vaccination requirement.
"Because I feel like it's a violation of your rights, your preference to inject something in your body," Hylton said, recognizing that private businesses can make their own rules.
"If you don't want to do that because you're being forced to sit down and eat or your job, I don't feel like anybody should tell you what to put in your body."
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Restaurant customer Meaghan Rhodes countered, saying no one is telling customers what to do, and that customers have the freedom to abide by certain requests or not, and face natural consequences.
"You can stay home because it's our turn to go out and eat at the restaurants," Rhodes said.
"We've stayed in this past year and like me, I've done everything I can. Now it's our turn to be able to get back to normal life."
She also believes that more should be required of restaurants when it comes to vaccination mandates.
"Personally, I would like to see the city step in and say 'Hey, you need proof of vaccination to get into the restaurants,'" she added.
"After everything that they've done through with the past year," Fileccia added about restaurants and mandates, "it's just really rough for these guys."
Click here for a list of restaurants implementing vaccination requirements for indoor dining.