ABQ restaurant shut down by State Police after employees defy Gov. MLG’s mask mandates

On Friday, it was reported that Old Town Albuquerque restaurant Backstreet Grill had been shut down due to employees defying Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s mask mandates despite the CDC allowing fully vaccinated people to be outside without masks. 

The restaurant, which was previously shut down in 2020 for similar complaints, had been shuttered after multiple nameless, faceless individuals complained via Yelp about servers not wearing masks. 

“The hostess did not wear a mask. I asked her if she would, she said no,” one review said. “He kind of leaned over towards us, still no mask, to point at the menu. I asked him if he could wear a mask. He flat out said no,” said another.

KRQE 13 checked out the situation, where they caught multiple employees not wearing masks while serving food in the fresh outdoor air. 

The news station reached out to Christopher Cordova, one of the restaurant’s managers, for comment. He wrote back, saying, “We live in America where mandates are not laws, we have the right to refuse to wear a mask.” When asked if he would share his side on camera, he replied, “I’m not interested in talking about masks. It’s very boring for me.”

The station got a comment from Albuquerque Environmental Health Department’s Mark DiMenna, who said, “Very few instances where anyone flagrantly disregarding what the public health order is asking for,” and that “This is sort of an exceptional situation.”

After KRQE 13 reached out to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s environmental health departments, the restaurant was shut down by the New Mexico State Police just a few hours later for violating the health order. 

Other restaurants and other institutions across the state have been mask shamed and harassed by Gov. Lujan Grisham’s administrations throughout the pandemic. Her State Police have been employed as attack dogs to implement her orders while she has called out specific establishments and jurisdictions across the state during her COVID-19 press conferences, including Hobbs and Española. 

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18 thoughts on “ABQ restaurant shut down by State Police after employees defy Gov. MLG’s mask mandates”

  1. Absolutely disgusting conduct from the former NMSP. To defy their oaths and become POLICY enforcement officers for a corrupt dictatorial administration without objection is the blackest page of their history.

  2. Marie Schulenberg

    Evil MLG draconian policies destroying citizen’s freedoms and civil liberties. She’s as evil as her deep state masters. MLG needs to be RECALLED ASAP OR MAKE HER A ONE TIME GOVERNOR! Save our State!

    1. Outlaw Preacher

      Totally agree but there is no recall provision in the State Constitution. Bottom line is this restaurant simply needs to reopen. The State Police have no constitutional (U.S.) authority to shut down their business.

      Make them enforce it, refuse to pay all fines.. Resist resist, resist.

      1. Yes! Every business owner must all just open, trash the mask, never pay a fine! They can do nothing, all unite, we will not be controlled by tyranny! Socialism has taken over ! Throw it off 🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷

  3. Pingback: ABQ restaurant shut down by State Police after employees defy Gov. MLG’s mask mandates – SFWR

  4. Pingback: ABQ restaurant shut down by State Police after employees defy Gov. MLG’s mask mandates – Santa Fe World Review

  5. It appears to me that any business that MLG shuts down should be able to sue her for taking their lively hood away from them. I’m not an attorney but I would talk to one about suing her on those grounds. After all when she shuts down their business they have no way to make a living. Does anyone agree with me?

  6. Where in the world is the Bernalillo County Sheriff?????

    Denying people their Constitutional Rights to their PERSONAL PROPERTY is a CRIME!!!!

    The Bern Co Sheriff department is complicit in allowing these crimes to continue, and the State Police are Communist COWARDS!

    1. BINGO NR!!!!!!
      Where are the Sheriff’s to protect this citizen’s rights?? Maybe the Sheriff and his deputies could stand guard while this business opens back up to the public, not the snitching public, but the those who still have a sane mind left and despise the tyranny of medical fraud and weaponizing “healthcare”. Backstreet Grill should dis-invite anyone with a facial concealment devices. Lord help us, we are turning communist by the day, as our Lady of Fatima predicted.

  7. That’s typical communist behavior from megalomaniac tyrants. Apparently the US constitution is nullified by fake viruses and illegal dictates. One wonders if the demonrats er communists are giving a trophy for the most repressive regime in the country? If so MLG is a top contender.

  8. As a former long-time restaurant owner/manager, I am sympathetic for this restaurant’s owners and employees; however, I am also aware of how uneasy many customers must feel when they choose to dine there and see workers not wearing masks. Here in my hometown, I have witnessed some restaurant workers either not wearing masks or allowing them to hang below their noses. Whether or not we agree with the mask mandate, as food service operations, our responsibility is to our customers. Put on the dang masks and do your jobs!

    1. Disgruntled New Mexican

      If they are uneasy perhaps they can dine somewhere else…
      People can choose if they want to support a like minded business who doesn’t support the use of masks they should be allowed to. If you are uncomfortable having drinks at a topless bar you probably just opt to go to a lounge you do feel comfortable in… same difference.

  9. Customers have the choice to eat at an establishment or not. Let THEM decide! If they don’t like servers not wearing masks, they can go elsewhere. In the video, it didn’t look to me that anyone cared!
    I saw a restaurant in another state (maybe NY??) that stayed open at the beginning of the pandemic but just took donations instead of charging people. They ended up making more money than normal, were busier than ever, and somehow were able to get past the mandate. Maybe this would be an option for the Backstreet Grill…..
    I’ll go eat there!

  10. Not to mention that those facial devices are the nastiest things in the world to have in a restaurant while being served food. Nothing but germ incubators, wet and crawling with bacteria and sweat, especially in the hot weather. How can anyone believe these devices promote health. I feel like puking whenever I see a food server wearing one and fiddling with it just before he/she hands someone their food or their change back. Disgusting. The governor is a criminal.

  11. In many places as long as the staff is fully vaccinated they are not wearing masks, and certainly not outdoors. NM seems to be way behind most every other place in the country. So much for following the science…. we don’t even follow CDC guidelines here.

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