LONGVIEW, Wash. (KOIN) — A Longview restaurant has been slapped with a hefty fine and a restraining order after weeks of ignoring the governor’s orders by serving customers indoors.
The parking lot was full at Stuffy’s II Restaurant on Tuesday afternoon — a day after it was fined $126,000 by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries. The fine comes four weeks after Gov. Jay Inslee ordered restaurants to cease indoor dining.
The restaurant’s 78-year-old owner said he’s not trying to provoke anyone but is just trying to survive. Spiffy’s Restaurant and Bakery in Chehalis had a hearing Tuesday as it also fights a restraining order issued by the state after it continued indoor dining.
Down the street from Stuffy’s, the Old Creekside Cafe has also decided to flout the rules and remain open for indoor dining. The owners just opened the restaurant on Nov. 13 and said there’s no way they could survive without indoor dining.
“We’ll deal with it when it comes,” said co-owner Danielle Rowley. “We have our attorneys and they are amazing, we are not looking for a fight, we’re just looking to survive, to stay open and provide jobs for our employees so they can provide roofs over their heads just like we need to.”
The Department of Labor & Industries said between 20 and 25 businesses in Washington have so far been fined for defying the governor’s COVID orders, but only a few have faced restraining orders from the attorney general’s office.
The owners of both Stuffy’s and Old Creekside Cafe said they’ve hired attorneys and plan to finish their fight to stay open in court. Stuffy’s will have a hearing on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Inslee revealed a new roadmap for reopening during a press conference on Tuesday. Regions that meet metrics determined by the state will be eligible to start offering indoor dining again with reduced capacity.
Washington health officials said regions must meet the following state-mandated criteria to advance: a 10% decrease trend over the last 14 days, a 10% decrease in COVID-19 hospital admission rates over the same period, that the ICU occupancy rate is less than 90%, and that the test positivity rate is less than 10%.