Fresno restaurant gets another city citation as COVID-19 stay-home order returns
The Waffle Shop in northwest Fresno recently received another citation for not complying to measures aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus. Its owner, Ammar Ibrahim, described that as “BS.”
“I think everyone is essential and has the right to make a living,” Ibrahim said Tuesday. “It’s our constitutional right to make a living and support our families.”
Ibrahim said this last $500 citation is the fourth he’s received this year. He was hit with $1,000 and $5,000 fines in May – also the same month a confrontation between restaurant patrons and police led to an arrest – and a $250 citation a few weeks ago.
The Waffle Shop’s most recent citation arrived in the mail and is dated Dec. 3. It came as stay-home orders returned to much of California for non-essential services due to increased COVID-19 cases and dwindling intensive care unit beds in hospitals.
For restaurants in the central San Joaquin Valley, the state order mandates a return to offering only takeout or delivery food. Ibrahim said despite this, he plans to continue serving customers inside the Waffle Shop – what he’s continued to do since the pandemic began, outside of temporarily closing for a few weeks earlier this year.
The Dec. 3 citation states the Waffle Shop failed to comply with Emergency Order 2020-17 requirements by continuing indoor dining, and not social distancing or wearing masks.
“Required action: Immediately comply with Emergency Order requirements or cease all business operations,” the citation reads, noting the $500 is due Jan. 4. Like the earlier citations, Ibrahim said he won’t be paying it.
Ibrahim said mask wearing is a personal choice for both his staff and customers, not a requirement in his restaurant. “Everyone is entitled to their own freedom.”
He said the code enforcement inspector who issued the last citation didn’t speak to him or enter his restaurant, as far as he knows. Ibrahim said someone with code enforcement just reportedly called the restaurant recently and spoke briefly with one staff member without providing a full name. He wants to be given evidence showing his non-compliance, and said he has attorneys helping him challenge the citations in court.
He said 100 people didn’t even enter the Waffle Shop on Dec. 3, compared to thousands walking through Costco that day. He views the restaurant restrictions as unfair.
Fresno city officials address enforcement
“The City Attorney’s Office – Code Enforcement Unit has no comment on issues pertaining to enforcement measures,” Rodney Horton with the city attorney’s office wrote in an email. “However, our office investigates allege violations of the Emergency Order, only on a complaint-driven basis. As always, our goal is to gain compliance without having to issue a citation.
“In addition, our office has been working in conjunction with the Fresno County Chamber of Commerce to provide essential businesses with P.P.E. so they may continue to safely operate.”
The city attorney’s office didn’t respond to other related questions, including the number of Fresno restaurants and businesses that have been cited related to COVID-19 orders, and if enforcement locally is changing since the regional stay-at-home order went into effect this week.
Ibrahim said he knows of a handful of other Fresno restaurant and bars that have received code enforcement citations similar to his.
City spokesman Mark Standriff said based on weekly reports he received from code enforcement, he’s aware of 12 restaurant/bar code violations and fines at nine businesses since the beginning of the pandemic, as of Friday.
Standriff said those amount to $11,000 total in fines ($2,000 for social distancing violations and $9,000 for open business violations). He said the following Fresno businesses have received citations:
- Dog House Grill, 2789 E. Shaw Ave. (4/26/20)
Waffle Shop, 4025 W. Figarden Dr. (5/8, 5/10, 10/29 & 12/3/20)
Elbow Room, 731 W San Jose Ave. (5/13/20)
The Shanty, 375 E. Shaw Ave. (6/6/20)
- Bobby Salazar’s, 725 E. Olive Ave. (6/15/20)
- Popeyes, 3004 N. Blackstone Ave. (7/12/20)
Mariscos Costa Azul, 3874 N. Blackstone Ave. (9/10/20)
- Las Micheladas at 1416 E Shaw (10/22/20)
- Sandwich Works, 2599 E. Ashlan Ave. (12/1/20)
Standriff said none of the citations were “instigated” by the city, “but only in response to citizen complaints.”
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is also involved with enforcement. ABC and other state agencies in a COVID-19 strike team visited businesses more than 94,000 times since July, issuing 143 citations for health order violations, an ABC spokeswoman said last month.
“The plan going forward is to keep doing what I need to do to support my family,” Ibrahim said, “and if that means staying open, it’s staying open. It’s a way of survival at this point.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 7:41 AM.
