City Council closes Ruby’s Cafe

Alleged health, safety violations prompt shutdown

The City Council has suspended the business license of Ruby’s Cafe, a fast food restaurant on C Street near 9th Street, after a slew of alleged health and safety code violations.

The Madera Police Department recommended the council revoke the license in early December after undercover investigations confirmed a pattern of unlicensed alcohol sales, sales to minors and sales after legal hours, as well as numerous other violations.

Officers said in a report to the council that the shop was doing substantial cash business with farm laborers — operating as an unlicensed and after-hours bar, over-serving alcohol to patrons and paying employees under the table — complete with drawn blinds and lookouts.

The business was further deemed by police to be a menace to public health and safety after several stabbings and a nearby homicide in 2011, and allegations of prostitution, according to the report...