Cattle Baron remains closed

Staff report

Cattle Baron in Portales remained closed Saturday as employees were still working to reopen the restaurant following a New Mexico Environment Department inspection that discovered numerous code violations.

Restaurant management said “it’s too soon to tell” when the restaurant will be open but declined to answer any other questions regarding the closure.

NMED Communications Director Jim Winchester has said the restaurant will reopen once employees satisfy the inspector on site. As of Saturday, restaurant staff continued to fix the 23 violations found by the inspector.

The restaurant has been closed since Thursday after an anonymous tipster contacted the NMED.

Violations at the restaurant, according to NMED documents, included cross contamination and improper cooling in certain areas of the restaurant.