Taco stand temporarily closes two SoCal locations after conflicts with customers over mask policy

ATWATER VILLAGE, LOS ANGELES -- As several videos have recently surfaced showing irate customers refusing to wear face coverings in public spaces throughout Southern California, one business is temporarily closing both of its locations to keep its employees safe.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Hugo's Tacos announced that its restaurants in Atwater Village and Studio City would "take a break and recharge" after "constant conflicts" concerning guests who refused to wear a mask when ordering food from the taco stands.

"Staff have been harassed, called names, and had objects and liquids thrown at them," the post said. "A mask isn't symbolic of anything other than our desire to keep our staff healthy."

Similar situations have been captured in now-viral videos, the most recent involving a woman who went on a tirade after being asked to wear a face covering at a Trader Joe's in North Hollywood.



The incidents come more than a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide mandate requiring all Californians to wear a mask in public, something that's received push back from some politicizing the governor's order.

A recently published study from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics found that if 95% of Americans wore face coverings in public, nearly 33,060 coronavirus-related deaths could be prevented by Oct. 1.