Red's Levee Bar, an almost seven-decade-old bar in St. Martinville, has temporarily lost its alcohol permit after the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control on Dec. 3 investigated a complaint that the bar was serving six people who were not wearing masks and without proper social distancing.
Businesses with suspended licenses will normally agree to comply with ATC guidelines to have their permits reinstated.
Red's Levee Bar fought back.
Liz Breaux, the owner of the bar, sued Gov. John Bel Edwards, claiming the governor's COVID-19 restrictions are not in effect while Attorney General Jeff Landry was challenging 19th Judicial District Judge William Morvan's ruling that a move by state House Republicans to nullify the restrictions was unconstitutional.
"I am a small business owner, and I'm just fighting for my rights to make an honest living and help other people out while doing it," Breaux said. "I haven't gotten rich, and I don't plan on getting rich by running my little bar. This is a legacy that my mommy and daddy opened in 1952, and I'm just keeping on the legacy."
Breaux's bar is one of the 59 establishments in the state that have been given suspension for "habitual non-compliance" of COVID-19 restrictions, according to ATC Commissioner Ernest Legier.
Red Levee's Bar's owner will go before the ATC this week to find out if the bar's alcohol license will be reinstated or revoked.
Her counsel for the case, Baton Rouge attorney Jeff Wittenbrink, said he plans to negotiate with the Alcohol and Tobacco Control and appeal the decision if the bar's license is revoked.
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