BANDITS knocked a man unconscious with a baseball bat during a robbery at a McDonald's restaurant in the city's inner west last night.Police say the robbery took place at the restaurant on the Princes Highway, St Peters, just before 9pm. It is understood there were about a dozen patrons inside.One witness told the Herald that two men entered the eatery, one armed with a knife or machete about 30 centimetres long, the other with a baseball bat, and shouted at staff and customers. He said they were dressed ''ninja-style'', wearing balaclavas.''At first I wondered what it was all about,'' he said. ''I didn't realise that it was actually serious.''The witness said the men barked orders to staff to open the tills, and at the customers to be seated. One customer, having coffee with the witness, had been slow to return to her table, so one of the men beat the tray out of her hand with his bat.Another customer, believed to have entered after the incident began, was apparently unaware of what was going on and was struck on the head with the bat, knocking him unconscious. The witness said the men also emptied a woman's purse before escaping.''Everyone was just stunned,'' the witness said, adding that police arrived quickly, followed by an ambulance.The witness and a nurse in the restaurant had assisted the man struck with bat as he regained consciousness until help arrived. An ambulance spokesman said a 24-year-old man had been taken to St George Hospital. Last night he was in a serious but stable condition.It was more action than the witness had bargained for having a Monday night coffee.''If only Gloria Jeans had been open in Marrickville, I'd have gone there instead,'' he said.