Masked avengers
Diners, including mayor, line up to back restaurant bullied by anti-mask protesters
Burger-eating diners — the Houston mayor among them — flooded a Garden Oaks eatery Monday to protest an anti-mask demonstration over the weekend at the restaurant.
Patrons new to Miller’s Cafe and neighborhood regulars lined up at the 3830 Shepherd Drive business for lunch after learning about the fiasco that unfolded about 48 hours earlier, when a group of two dozen refused to wear a mask upon entering the restaurant. The group claimed to have medical conditions that exempted them from the statewide mask mandate, co-owner Johnathan White said.
Employees offered masks for the group to wear until it was time to eat — but they refused.
“They started yelling and saying (the employees) were taking away their constitutional rights and they would not support our establishment,” White said. “I think they were looking for a fight.”
Stacy Gremillion, the cashier that night, asked the group to leave but they started marching on their door step instead. The group — some waving American and President Donald Trump flags — chanted “Boycott Mill
er’s” and refused to let customers in or out. Police were then called to the protest, which lasted about an hour.
“They were very vulgar,” Gremillion said.
On Monday, employees spent the lunch crunch wrangling to-go orders at the cafe. Co-owner Jessica Beer juggled the phone and a line of customers out the door.
Gremillion took a breather to excitedly snap a selfie with Mayor Sylvester Turner during his scheduled visit. The mayor stepped up to the counter at noon to order a hamburger with fries. He held the onions and asked for extra pickles.
“If this business closed, you’re hurting families,” the mayor said.
Turner called the demonstrators bullies and denounced their refusal to wear a protective face coverings. Lastmonth, themayor similarly took exception to an attack on a Museum District bar employee who had asked his assailant to wear a mask.
In that case, the suspect— Patrick Kelly — was charged with misdemeanor assault and arrested.
News surrounding the demonstrators inspired longtime Independence Heights resident Scott Szabo to drop in for his first visit during a lunch break outing.
Looking to the restaurant, Szabo said, “I’m going to back these people up.”
Szabo’s colleague, Joe Sides, expressed befuddlement at the sudden decision to protest the restaurant over their mask mandate.
“Why protest a restaurant? It’s been normal for months now,” Sides said.
Ashley Morgan joined the growing order line with her family — including her 8week-old child Ar’marrion — whom she worries could contract the virus.
“It’s not OK— stop protesting something we have to live in,” Morgan said.