HOUSTON — Houston mayor Sylvester Turner is calling for the state and governor to close a loophole that allows bars and nightclubs to reclassify themselves as restaurants.
Turner was touring the vaccination mega site at Minute Maid Park Saturday when he held a briefing addressing to rising COVID-19 concerns.
“I am still getting these pictures of the restaurants recategorized as clubs, a let me tell you, they are not restaurants,” the mayor said. “So I am calling on the TABC to really, to crack down and to rescind some of these reclassifications.
The Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission allows for bars and nightclubs to reclassify themselves as restaurants provided that under 51 percent of their sales come from alcohol.
These businesses also must have a kitchen or permanent food on the premise and must prove that more than 50 percent of their sales comes from food.
The businesses must still follow the governor’s order of limiting capacity and enforcing social distancing.
Turner said he talked to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena about some of the photos. HFD will be going to some of the restaurants Saturday evening to look.
“It is ludicrous when these bars and clubs have been allowed to reclassify themselves as restaurants and when you look at these pictures there is no food on the table, none, that is crazy,” Turner said.
The mayor said he will ask the state to review their policies and the loophole. He added that it makes it difficult to the city to do anything when these businesses are allowed to operate as restaurants.
“They are community spreaders, and they are working against what we are trying to achieve,” he said.
Mayor Turner said scribed these businesses as “community spreaders” and explained that they are “working against what we are trying to achieve.”
“They’re not restaurants, they’re clubs and bars, that is what they do, that’s their nature,” Turner said. "In the absence of this reclassification, they are supposed to be closed, and if they are closed you don’t have to worry about social distancing.”
The mayor said resources are limited right now with the city trying to protect key buildings and people leading up to the presidential inauguration. He explained they do not have enough personnel to go into every business late at night to tell them to social distance.
“I would say to the business owners and managers you should be responsible,” the mayor said. “But the definition of a club or a nightclub is to come together, I don’t care how you characterize it or recharacterize it. If it is a club or a nightclub, you know you are coming together, it is a social setting, and it also becomes a super spreader.”
He said the only way to stop it is for them not to be allowed to reclassify themselves as restaurants.
“Recognize they are who they are, and they are not going to change,” he said.