For years, Shooters Grill – the brainchild of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert – was a staple in downtown Rifle’s restaurant scene.
It was one of the only places in the United States you could order a burger from a server carrying a 9mm pistol on her hip.
Sadly, Boebert closed the doors to her restaurant because the landlord refused to renew the lease.
“We were like a family,” she said.
“I would say Shooters, for any employee, was their life. We lived and breathed it every single day. They were a part of this culture and brand that we created in Rifle, and there was a lot of pride with that.”
Lauren Boebert’s landlord refused to renew her lease, Shooter’s Grill is officially closed. pic.twitter.com/0aJmkCve39
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) July 13, 2022
Shooter’s Grill is officially closed. https://t.co/DcMUh4iS4c
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 13, 2022
VailDaily reported:
In June, Boebert was told by new landlord Milken Enterprises that her lease wasn’t going to be renewed.
Boebert said the letter came as a shock. She soon called the landlord but “there wasn’t really much wiggle room or anywhere to compromise unless we bought the building ourselves.”
“Within the next two hours, I had reporters reaching out to me asking me if this was true and if we were being evicted,” she said. “I said, ‘Well, we’re not being evicted. The lease is not being renewed — that’s a big difference.’”
The real question is, what’s next for Boebert in the restaurant industry? Will it fade away into myth like the Old West or are there plans in the works to relocate?
Boebert said she doesn’t want to make any promises, but she and her husband, Jayson, are praying and planning to continue the Shooters brand, culture, name and presence on Rifle’s Third Street.
“The business gained notoriety when Boebert campaigned for her seat in 2020,” CBS News added.
Boebert told the publication she was shocked, but might be looking at another building in Rifle. She, however, didn’t make any promises.
Boebert won her party’s nomination in the June primary. She will face Adam Frisch, a former Aspen council member, in November.
So much for tolerance, right?
