No vaccine, no entry: A civic good, or creeping tyranny?

Nestled along a corridor bustling with streetcars and restaurants 10 blocks from the U.S. Capitol, neighborhood eatery Fare Well was until recently best known for its vegan comfort food. Tired of sprouts? Try their buffalo wings, or award-winning cupcakes. 

But on Jan. 23, the restaurant became yet another battleground in the nation’s vaccine mandate wars. Owner Doron Petersan says a dozen-plus people showed up to protest their proof-of-vaccination requirement, calling the staff “Nazis” and “dictators.” She had instituted the policy in September, four months before Washington’s citywide mandate took effect, out of concern for the well-being of her employees – one of whom recently lost a parent to COVID-19. 

Just across the street – but a world apart – The Big Board, a burger joint, does not ask customers to show vaccine cards at the door but simply welcomes them in. The restaurant has been repeatedly warned, has been fined $2,000, and had its liquor license suspended last week for violating the city’s new vaccine requirement. Initially