Videotaping diners? Call me a bit naive or behind the times, but that part

[Irish_Dem]

56. Most restaurants have a waiting area for take out orders or people stand and wait.

Most restaurants don't let people sit at tables if they are not going to eat in the restaurant.
Unless the place was not crowded, or the guy just sat himself at the table.

Yes I understand we are just trying to figure out what might have happened.
Solving a crime involves this kind of speculation, figuring out what the suspect
was doing as the crime plays out.

I have not read much about the other woman he robbed. So this same guy robbed
another woman at the same restaurant? If this is the case, yes it looks more like
an ordinary robbery and not targeted against Noem.

Yes I agree, some people go into a restaurant masked and then take it off to eat.
That is a possibility.