Ah, “historic” Hernandez Hideaway, Del Dios — on the shores of Lake Hodges — ode to risky business and no, the founder did NOT invent the margarita; got shut down this week.
Blame it on COVID-19. along with the owner’s vile violation of San Diego County restaurant re-opening guidelines. Turns out social distancing and sanitation procedures at the fabled headquarters of the Hodgee Monster Appreciation Society were well below COVID fighting code.
Hernandez Hideaway was only the second restaurant shut down by county officials since dine-in service was phased into the county’s reopening plan on May 21. El Prez in Pacific Beach was closed the day after dine-in service returned after videos surface showing “egregious” non compliance.
The scene of the coronavirus grime was deemed an imminent health and safety risk and health hazard, according to county officials, and was ordered to close immediately Thursday, June 25.
That was the culmination of a monthlong running battle between Hideaway owner Rick Stevens, a Trump supporter, that went viral last week. Shortly after deputies arrived at the restaurant, on Thursday, a man who identified himself as Stevens showed up and he was served the order to close within 30 minutes.
Stevens had several chances to get right with the law and the times, all to no avail. San Diego Sheriff’s deputies visited the restaurant and asked for voluntary compliance on June 12, 21, and 23.
Tensions eventually blew up, up and away Thursday as Stevens could be heard yelling at deputies to leave his property.
“You’re not on the right side of this,” Stevens said to deputies as he led them out the front door. “You guys suck. You ‘ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Another person wearing an apron appeared to be recording the conversation on a cell phone.
The heated conversation continued in the parking lot of the restaurant as Stevens approached a group of deputies.
At one point Stevens was heard mansplaining to a deputy, “So go get the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) and quit being a donkey.”
Stevens hurled more insults at deputies while demanding to see documents related to the closure. Minutes later, the group of deputies went back to their vehicles and left.
The Hernandez Hideaway restaurant in Escondido was closed by the county Thursday in response to the owner’s alleged refusal to comply with the Public Health Order, and the owner was not happy when deputies arrived to shut it down. https://t.co/RhOe8ijdyx pic.twitter.com/q0XfdJLNFT
— NBC 7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) June 26, 2020
When an NBC 7 reporter approached Stevens and another woman outside, they said they were served with an order to close the restaurant, but claimed the restaurant was adhering to social distancing and face covering mandates.
Stevens was later seen leading customers to their cars and taking down “open now” signs displayed outside, all while accusing NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 news crews, who were filming from across the street on public property, of biased reporting.
Living for the good news
Aw hell, one more shot before we go of Hernandez Hideaway owner Rick Stevens — this time with a mask; hallelujah, miracles do happen — as he gets in the face (and lens) up close and personal with a KNSD videographer. The mask said, yup, “Make America Great Again.”/NBC 7 screenshot
The Mexican-themed restaurant had re-opened on May 21 and somehow evaded official detection for an entire month of chili verde, enchiladas and, of course, margaritavilles.
The next date with coronavirus destiny, however, is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 28. The venerable eatery’s Facebook page says it has revised its procedures and will be back for more of all that at that time.
And the people have spoken:
- Elizabeth Wood Are there limitations such as social distancing or mask requirements?
AuthorHernandez HideAway All DEH requirements are being met
View 3 more replies - Sue Walker Sullivan Happy to hear it!!! Your place is one of my very favs!
- Elba Uribe Great news! Margarita time ?
- Matt Nicolas Dam DONKEYS!
- Eric Neubauer Glad you guys are opened back up!
- Chris Bouchard Awesome news!
San Diego County officials said public health officials observed employees not wearing masks, not enforcing social distancing and sanitation protocols.
San Diego County Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten pulled the plug on the — as 1950s sitcom “Life of Riley” star William Bendix used to say — revolting development.
The closure order detailed four incidents during which deputies or county Department of Environmental Health officials observed that dastardly lack of social distancing, sanitation and facial covering protocols at the restaurant at 19320 Lake Drive.
Health officials on Tuesday acted on a complaint and spoke with restaurant owner Rick Stevens, who “admitted that he was not compliant and stated he will continue to operate without these COVID preventative measures and will not require staff to wear face coverings,” Wooten said.
Testimony from “former customers” backed up the county’s claim.
“I was the only one with any mask on last time I went over there and actually got ridiculed by another patron for having a mask on. I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to submit myself to that,” said nearby resident Kelli Stiles.
Among the comments: “No one was wearing a face mask,”… “server was not wearing a mask,”… bartender “gave me flack for wearing a mask,”… “owner boldly stated the only mask they would wear was a Halloween mask.”
In case you’re wondering, the latest Yelp reviews
Full frontal of Hernandez Hideaway/File
Escondido, CA21 friends25 reviews6/27/2020Loved going here for dinner, happy hour or post hike drinks for about 20 years.
Not anymore. Been going downhill for years.
Must not be the same owners.
They won’t answer questions about safety protocols during this pandemic.
They don’t care about the customers at all.
It’s pretty obvious the current owner is a POS.
Lack of respect to law enforcement is a total disgrace.
San Diego, CA6/27/2020This place is trash. Just like the owner. My dog could cook better food with a blindfold on.
San Diego, CA236 friends227 reviews256 photos6/26/20201 check-inI used to come here often. Hernandez’ Hideaway is a landmark in the gorgeous Lake Hodges area, but it is not owned by someone who knows what HE is doing. Please SELL your restaurant so someone who cares owns it; so someone who knows good Mexican food shakes it off and dusts it off and re-opens it. I don’t think We The People are asking for much, for starters a new owner would probably be equally disgusted by the dead flies in the window sills or the overall dinginess of the appearance of an eatery. Who is this Rick Stevens guy? Ok, you don’t have to be a restaurateur to make sure you are creating wonderful and fresh Mexican dishes- you just have to have half-a-brain to know that if you are recycling chips after one table leaves- to give to us as we just sit down we are going to notice! We are going to notice that salsa is on some of the chips that are stale and mostly broken. I don’t know if this is true, so I want to be fair but there is a rumor that Hernandez was using cornstarch and peas to bulk up the guacamole. Because I am someone who has over a twenty six year history of dining here, what I am saying is valid. To correct the original owner’s claim of being the inventor of the margarita- that is a whole lot of Escondido farm dung. Please, dude- just sell it. Sell it to someone who will create something really nice in this secluded special spot by the lake. Someone who will stew and roast fresh meat to make real carne asada, real carnitas,… If you order a blackberry margarita here, they are making it with blackberry jam. Disgusting!! We are in SoCal, and you can’t bring in fresh berries?
Time for a new, but until there is someone new I won’t be back. Cheers!
San Diego, CA19 friends46 reviews4 photos6/26/2020Horrible and high prices for what tasted like frozen food! Chips look and taste like they came out of a bag. I was here in January. So disappointing. I was so embarrassed I had brought a friend.
This past week…We were hiking and wanted a quick margarita. STAFF not wearing masks- gross! We left. Last place I want to be is inside and with servers /cooks walking around without masks. I talked to someone outside, and they believed the owner was a Trump supporter and it was a political statement. Whatever the reason, our money won’t be spent there.
Las Vegas, NV12 friends116 reviews64 photos6/27/2020Well well… Check this restaurant off permanently. Any fool who cannot follow rules and instead wishes to file his uneducated, non-mask wearing president, will NOT have the business of myself or my family and friends who visit and reside in San Diego.
San Diego, CA84 friends107 reviews6 photos6/26/2020At one point I truly enjoyed making this a destination after hiking or mountain biking around Hodges. However, after seeing the owner yelling at the police for him not following social distancing and mask wearing guidelines I am disgusted. He said he’s just trying to make a living, and how does that make sense when he will not keep his customers safe by putting on a darn mask?
Even after this pandemic is over I don’t want to eat or drink at an establishment that does not prioritize erring side of safety of customers.
San Diego, CA354 friends206 reviews351 photos6/25/2020Man this place is trash. I went in last week and had the most disgusting food. I could tell it was re heated. I even had to ask them to heat it up and they put it right into the microwave.
No one was wearing a mask. None of the staff had a facemask. The owner didnt have one while he spoke to patrons.
I will never return here. If they fail to wear face masks for public safety, i wonder what other things they skip out on.
San Francisco, CA103 friends16 reviews6/27/2020I never write 1-star reviews, but this place is just horrible. It is not sanitary in the slightest, and it’s definitely not somewhere you can feel comfortable eating. There are much, much better restaurants out there, so go ahead and skip this one.
Again- I highly recommend avoiding this “restaurant”. It’s really disgusting and should should be avoided at all costs. I’d give it zero stars if I could.
San Diego, CA31 friends11 reviews4 photos6/26/2020Save your time and money. This place is absolutely DISGUSTING. Very dirty and unsanitary. Floors and table tops were sticky, the bathroom was filthy. There must be some sort of infestation, because I found a dead roach cooked in the rice. My soul left my body. Thankfully I hadn’t taken a bite of them yet, but noooo thank you. The cherry on top of the whole experience was that a manager/owner wearing a MAGA face mask in a MEXICAN restaurant could not control his emotions over having to comp the entire meal and was spewing racist remarks under his breath!!! I clearly heard him call us “damn beaners” and said something along the lines of “these f*****g spics.” What a weirdo. Spare yourself.
San Diego, CA101 friends12 reviews6 photos6/26/2020Can’t even follow simple rules that are in place to protect his employees and his customers. Don’t even go here save yourself money and time go somewhere else. This not even authentic Mexican food. This guys wears a MAGA face mask that should tell you a lot. Bye.
San Diego, CA13 friends43 reviews2 photos6/26/2020
Updated review
I was out at the lake for a bike ride and watched a violent scene unfold with the owner while the cops had to enforce a shutdown order on this joint. The owner pulled out a MAGA face mask and shoved a bunch of news cameramen around while running around barefoot shouting obscenities at everyone around. I will never be back.
9/15/2013Previous reviewGarbage food for an expensive price. It had been about 6 or 7 years since I lasted visited this place. I remembered that the best thing from the last visit was the chips and salsa, but the rest of it was lousy. I decided to go ahead and try it again on a trip from the coast back home around the lake. This time even the chips weren’t good, with texture and warmth like they had been sitting for about 3 hours. I’m guessing the chips were left over from the lunch service. My chile verde burrito(as recommended by the waiter) tasted like the pork was reheated from a bag, on par with Dinty Moore from a can. For a $14 plate this was a letdown, despite the waiter’s hopes. The waiter advised against the fish tacos, speculating that anyone who had eaten fish tacos before would not like them. He was trying hard to make it a good experience, but he can’t control what comes out of the kitchen. I could have gotten a better burrito(and a bigger one too) from any of your typical ‘Berto’s takeout joints. My gf had a cheese enchi combo with a beef taco, which again were average at best(hard to get a cheese enchilada wrong), but would have been happier paying $6 for it at Jilbertos or any other. Ambience was ok, still its best attribute, though it’s definitely got a dive bar feel inside and the decor obviously hasn’t been updated in decades. I felt bad for the waiter, trying to make a positive out of real turd in terms of food quality. There are better just a couple miles down the road.
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San Diego, CA0 friends40 reviews6/26/2020Stop being selfish and follow the rules. Masks, proper distancing and sanitation. Is it that hard?
Carlsbad, CA149 friends3 reviews6/26/2020Owner is a complete psycho path with ZERO regard for health guidelines. Eat and drink here at your own risk. I will never walk into this establishment again.
San Marcos, CA10 friends13 reviews11 photos6/26/2020We’ve loved the food here for years. About 4 weeks ago (the 1st Friday they opened for dining) we called to get an order to go and discovered they were open for business for the first time in a while. The idea of sitting outside on the patio and having a margarita after being in isolation for months was very appealing to us so we went in. We took our order to a patio table that was 6 feet apart from others and were feeling comfortable. But a waitress came to our table to bring our margaritas and was not wearing a mask. I asked where her mask was and she said it was in her car. Then the blonde haired owner appeared and began BRAGGING @ not wearing masks & how it was her right not to wear one. I recall her saying she would teach the county and the state to make her stay quarantined for months because she started reading about her rights on the Internet. She even said, “You aren’t going to report me are you?” I was SO appalled at the ignorance & selfishness on display. But I just wanted a calm, relaxing outing. Then I noticed a red Trump hat proudly on display behind the bar, which hadn’t previously been there prior to the pandemic.
Tonight I saw on the news where the county closed them down & I saw the male owner make a fool of himself iwalking out of the restaurant bare-footed YELLING & calling the sheriff officers baffoons !!! Bless those 6 respectful officers who kept calm & called him sir attempting to de-escalate him. I’m just sorry I didn’t report them & hope they are never allowed to open with their vile attitude. How about we support businesses that can demonstrate they care about their customers and can follow rules.
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