Merrifield restaurant fined $10,000 for opening against executive order

MERRIFIELD, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Merrifield, Minnesota restaurant has been fined $10,000 after opening for in-person dining twice after the Governor’s previous executive order prohibited it.

The Minnesota Department of Health announced the Mission Tavern was issued the fine and was given a license suspension notice for opening Nov. 25 and again after it was issued a cease-and-desist order on Dec. 11.

“Despite other restaurants in Crow Wing County doing their part to keep the community safe, Mission Tavern again put its employees and customers at risk and re-opened for on-site dining,” the state said in a release.

MDH Assistant Commissioner Dan Huff said the “vast majority” of Minnesota businesses are complying with the executive order.

“We owe it to those businesses to have a consistent and fair enforcement approach for those requirements,” said Huff.