I reported on Friday about the escalation of the battle between the Lepejians, owners of Tinhorn Flats Burbank, and the City of Burbank.

As suspected, the April 9 hearing on the matter did not turn in their favor:

Today the City of Burbank erected a fence around Tinhorn Flats Saloon and Grill. The establishment has repeatedly defied COVID health orders in an ongoing standoff with the city. Burbank Police Lt. Derek Green said the fence was put up to prevent the restaurant from operating without a county health permit and city conditional use permit.

The police presence around the bar is “there to maintain peace and order,” Green said. Dozens of demonstrators have remained mostly peaceful, but nearby residents and small businesses have felt the impact of the continued dispute.

On Friday, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against Tinhorn Flats in Burbank which has repeatedly defied COVID health orders, telling the lawyers it was apparent that a pause he took on March 26 to see if the parties could settle was unfruitful.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff told attorney Mark J. Geragos, who represents the Magnolia Boulevard eatery, that he was welcome to file a motion to modify the injunction, which is tailored along the same lines as the temporary restraining order the judge imposed against the bar on March 8.

The judge did not levy any sanctions against the restaurant owner, who defied health orders and continued to offer outdoor dining at a time it was banned in Los Angeles County.

According to his Instagram posts and comments, Baret Lepejian continues his fight against the Burbank City Council, the City of Burbank, and Los Angeles County, and plans to continue to battle them in court.

Since the restaurant’s Facebook page has been taken down, Lepejian took to Instagram to thank his supporters and to clarify some facts:

Huge THANK YOU for our supporters for taking your Saturday and supporting Tinhorn Flats…this is way beyond an illegal restaurant closure now. This is about Government over-reach against Small Businesses and Battling Tyranny on the Common Man.

Couple things to keep in mind for perspective-
1. We only opened outdoors to customers during the lockdown. We never served inside.
2. Employees followed all mask rules.
3. Even after our CUP was “taken away” we still followed every rule on the CUP and Health Permit.
THIS TYRANNY HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY…IT IS ONLY ABOUT FEAR AND CONTROL. WE WILL NOT COMPLY.

Lepejian will appear tonight on Fox News’s Sean Hannity show.

Contrast this with another Los Angeles County business owner. I have been to the Wine Cave in Montrose, California (a suburban section of the city of Glendale), and it was a lovely watering hole that had wonderful live music by local and known music artists. Owner Joe Tahanian was at first going to resist the lockdown mandates, but after being threatened, he decided to comply.

A year later, Tahanian will not reopen his doors.

April 2020, I took these photos of Joe Tahanian, owner of The Wine Cave, a bar in Montrose. We did a story w/ him about how he planned to stay open during lockdowns. The day after it aired, authorities threatened him, & he complied.

He just called me. He lost his business today pic.twitter.com/7aGhuMi6ES

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) April 9, 2021