Last week in Houston, Texas the owners of the Buffalo Grille, a popular destination for lunch and breakfast, told reporters their Bissonnet location received a notice of violation from the Houston Fire Department because police officers were eating free food on the restaurant’s patio.
This is how we thank local businesses for supporting first-responders?
Owner John McAller said a Houston firefighter came to order a free meal and then told the manager that a group of Houston Police officers, who were eating outside at a table, needed to leave right away.
When the manager told her that he didn’t want to company with that order, the firefighter left and came back with the fire marshall, who issued a notice of violation.
Statement from Houston Fire Department Chief Sam Pena (a man who was appointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner):
Both departments (HFD and HPD) are working diligently to enforce the spirit of the County’s Stay-Home order. With every one of the hundreds of complaint responses, the primary goal for HFD’s Occupancy Task Force has been to achieve voluntary compliance with the order through information and education. We have been extremely successful in achieving this goal as was the case in this instance. Contrary to reports, the Buffalo Grille was not cited by the HFD Occupancy Task Force and there was no fees assessed. The complaint was resolved via notice of violation as required by the County’s Order.