Code violations lead to closure at Cattle Baron

Staff report

Employees at Cattle Baron in Portales were working to reopen the restaurant Friday after an anonymous tipster led the New Mexico Environment Department to find a laundry list of violations.

The restaurant was closed Thursday and will reopen once employees satisfy the inspector on site, according to NMED Communications Director Jim Winchester. The inspector initially found 23 violations.

“We went out there today,” Winchester said on Friday, “and they still have some issues to address.”

Restaurant management directed all inquiries to its corporate office, which did not return requests for comment by Friday evening.

A few of the violations, according to NMED documents, included improper cooling in certain areas of the restaurant, ready-to-eat food not having a label and cross contamination.