Star chef pleads no contest in assault
Diego Galicia, chef and co-owner of the high-profile San Antonio restaurant Mixtli, has pleaded no contest to a reduced assault charge resulting from an incident at a Dallas bar in 2016.
The case involves a charge filed against Galicia in which former San Antonio resident Alex Valdez told police that Galicia shoved him, knocked him into a counter and slammed his head into a window at The Ginger Man bar in Dallas on Oct. 22, 2016.
The court reduced the original Class A misdemeanor charge of assault with bodily injury to a Class C misdemeanor charge of simple assault by offensive contact. Adam Sabrin, an attorney for Galicia, said in a letter that Galicia only grabbed Valdez’s shirt.
In an order signed Dec. 4, a Dallas County judge assessed Galicia court costs, a deferred fine of $400 and three months of unsupervised community supervision. Galicia can seek to have the offense expunged from his record after five months without other offenses. The maximum punishment for Class C misdemeanor assault is a $500 fine.
Valdez, who months ago offered his side of the story on a website, texasvgalicia.com, said of the outcome, “I’m very happy with the verdict. Hopefully it will keep (Galicia) in line and help him to be a better person.”
Mixtli was named the city’s best restaurant in the 2018 ExpressNews “Top 100 Dining & Drinks” guide. He and Mixtli co-owner Rico Torres were semifinalists for the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest.