Clovis restaurants cited by state officials for allowing indoor dining
Two Clovis restaurants were cited recently for allowing customers to eat inside, a violation of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Fresno County is among the counties affected by the state of California’s crackdown due to the rising numbers of positive cases.
House of JuJu and Luna’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant each received misdemeanor citations from the California Department of Beverage Control on Friday. The ABC is part of multi-agency strike team the governor assembled to enforce the dining rules.
Newsom has singled out bars, restaurants and other facilities that could be putting employees as well as customers at risk. Wineries, movie theaters, indoor zoo and museum exhibits and cardrooms also were singled out.
Aggravating factors, under the state’s guidance documents, include difficultly in consistently wearing a face covering while eating and drinking, the degree of social mixing among patrons and the amount of time customers spend in such establishments.
Bert Liberta, whose family has owned Luna’s for more than 50 years, said he understands the rules and has complied by offering patio dining at the restaurant’s Old Town Clovis location.
Favor to elderly diners
But what he couldn’t accept recently was forcing two elderly couples to sit outside in triple-degree temperatures.
“It was 104 that day and I told them they could sit inside,” he said.
And then two agents with ABC showed up.
“I told them it was ridiculous that they were giving me a citation,” Liberta said. “I wasn’t serving beer to someone underage or letting them drink outside. I was being safe.”
‘Cleaner than a department store’
Julie Glenn, co-owner of House of Juju, also in Old Town Clovis, said her staff was visited by ABC and given a citation for allowing indoor dining.
Glenn admits she was going against the governor’s mandate, saying she disagreed with targeting bars and restaurants. She said her restaurant has gone above and beyond health and safety protocols.
While Glenn agrees that COVID-19 is a health issue, she’s also confused by the government’s approach of slowing the spread of the virus by allowing department stores and other businesses to continue to operate.
“The fact is our restaurant is cleaner than a department store,” Glenn said. “You can’t go into a restaurant, touch products and then put it back. If I thought for one second that our place was an unsafe environment I would not put people in that environment.”
Both Glenn and Liberta will have to appear in Superior Court on Sept. 22. If they ignore the citation and don’t show up in court, they could face a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.
Another business, Rock Yard Tavern in Exeter, was cited by the state during the week of July 6, for indoor dining and indoor alcohol consumption.
This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
