City Shuts Down Willie’s Chicken Shack for Violating New COVID-19 Restrictions

The city of New Orleans has shut down multiple locations of fried chicken and daiquiri chain Willie’s Chicken Shack, after a weekend of social media posts calling out the restaurants for violating the city’s new ban on the sale of to-go alcohol.

On Friday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell prohibited restaurants from selling takeout alcohol effective Saturday, July 25, and closed bars entirely. When discussing the new restrictions on Monday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that “we did have a couple of bad actors” over the weekend, and that there was “a lot of attention” on multiple Willie’s Chicken Shacks. “My task force was on the ground, and as a result those locations are closed and will remain closed throughout this pandemic,” the Mayor said.

Willie’s owner Aaron Motwani said in a statement Monday that he has closed all locations because “we were unable to prevent our patrons from leaving our premises with drinks in hand after their meals” and “do not have the staff available to enforce our policy.” The chain of eight restaurants, seven of which are located in the French Quarter including two on Bourbon Street, is known to attract tourists.

Mayor Cantrell said that except for the few bad actors, “overall the response was compliance” to the new ban on takeout alcohol sales. The Mayor said last week that the restriction will remain in place “until we move into a position of better health in the City of New Orleans.”

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• New Orleans Mayor Prohibits Restaurants and Bars from Selling Takeout Alcohol [ENOLA]
• Cantrell: All Willie’s Chicken Shacks closed through pandemic after violating COVID-19 restrictions [WDSU]
• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards Closes Bars, Makes Face Masks Mandatory [ENOLA]
• New Orleans Creates Task Force to Enforce COVID-19 Guidelines at Restaurants [ENOLA]
• Bars in Louisiana to Remain Closed Until at Least August 7 [ENOLA]