{"id":41102,"date":"2022-04-19T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cjs-diner-in-durango-a-lightning-rod-during-covid-19-restrictions-is-for-sale\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:58:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:58:55","slug":"cjs-diner-in-durango-a-lightning-rod-during-covid-19-restrictions-is-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cjs-diner-in-durango-a-lightning-rod-during-covid-19-restrictions-is-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"CJ\u2019s Diner in Durango, a lightning rod during COVID-19 restrictions, is for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The phone has been ringing off the hook for Jerry Martinez, owner of CJ\u2019s Diner, with indignant residents steamed about the diner hosting an event featuring outspoken gun-rights supporter Larry Pratt, head of Gun Owners of America. Martinez says the arrangement to host and cater the dinner is simply a business agreement. \u201cI had no idea who Larry Pratt is,\u201d he said.<\/span>JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After a protracted legal battle with the state and San Juan Basin Public Health, Jerry and Carrie Martinez are stepping away from CJ\u2019s Diner.<\/p>\n

The co-owners have put the 810 E. College Drive restaurant up for sale as they look to exit their business after more than two decades. The Martinezes made the decision after 6th Judicial District Judge William Herringer\u2019s dismissal of their lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, and San Juan Basin Public Health.<\/p>\n

The future of CJ\u2019s Diner is unclear as the Martinezes await offers for the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the court case really drove us to this point,\u201d Jerry Martinez said. \u201cWhy should I have to fight so that I can work? I\u2019m tired as it is and you add one more thing. And we spent all that money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herringer issued his ruling Feb. 25 and the Martinezes listed CJ\u2019s Diner for sale the next day, Martinez said.<\/p>\n

CREXI, a commercial real estate website, lists the 2,000-square-foot diner at an asking price of $350,000, and the sale includes the furniture and much of the cooking equipment. The Martinezes are selling their business; the property is not part of the business, according to April Bates, the Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties agent handling the sale.<\/p>\n

So far, four potential buyers have looked at the restaurant, but no one has submitted an offer. Some of the potential buyers have expressed an interest in continuing CJ\u2019s Diner while others are interested in taking over the space for their own businesses, Martinez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great business for us for 22 years. We\u2019re so involved in the community and (with) what we represent with CJ\u2019s, there\u2019s going to be a lot of people that are going to be affected by it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The sale of CJ\u2019s Diner ends a nearly year-and-a-half-long legal saga driven by COVID-19 pandemic precautions.<\/p>\n

Martinez and CJ\u2019s Diner defied local and state health orders in late 2020, choosing to remain open for in-person dining amid a surge of COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n

At the time, Martinez said the restaurant was staying open to employ staff members and keep the business operating. He said another shutdown of in-person dining would force CJ\u2019s Diner to go out of business.<\/p>\n

However, the Martinezes were met with legal action from SJBPH, which filed a cease-and-desist order against the diner on Dec. 1, 2020. After refusing to close the restaurant\u2019s doors, a District Court judge directed law enforcement to close the business to in-person dining.<\/p>\n

The Martinezes then stopped indoor dining, but in January 2021 filed a lawsuit against Polis, CDPHE and Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan, and SJBPH and Executive Director Liane Jollon.<\/p>\n

\"Jerry
Jerry and Carrie Martinez have operated CJ\u2019s Diner for 22 years and Jerry has worked in the restaurant industry around Durango for nearly 50 years. CJ\u2019s Diner has had four potential buyers, but no one has made an offer for the restaurant so far. Some of those considering the property would be interested in continuing CJ\u2019s Diner, while others are looking for a place for their business, Jerry Martinez said. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Attorneys for the Martinezes questioned the constitutionality of the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, which outlines the authority for the governor and state to react to a disaster, and argued that executive and public health orders issued by Polis and SJBPH violated the Colorado Constitution.<\/p>\n

In their lawsuit, the Martinezes sought attorney\u2019s fees and rulings against the agencies and the three local and state leaders.<\/p>\n

After more than a year, Herringer dismissed the Martinezes\u2019 lawsuit in its entirety, finding that their claims were either \u201cmoot,\u201d meaning they were already resolved, or did not identify a legal claim the judge could rule on. Herringer also ruled that the governor, SJBPH and CDPHE acted within their authority to respond to \u201cthe impact the pandemic would have on public health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jollon said SJBPH was not targeting CJ\u2019s Diner with its public health orders, which all other restaurants had to also follow, but was instead following the state\u2019s COVID-19 dial and was fulfilling the agency\u2019s mandate to protect public health.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLevel Red\u201d public health order SJBPH issued did not close restaurants, which were still allowed to offer takeout and delivery service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t take these decisions lightly, but it\u2019s our obligation to fulfill our public health authorities and it\u2019s our obligation to the community,\u201d Jollon said. \u201cWe understand that this was an incredibly difficult time for everybody, but that fall and winter was Colorado\u2019s most significant surge. We had more fatalities going into the next few weeks than we had seen at any other time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late 2020, public health officials were concerned about the risk that indoor dining posed and the approval of COVID-19 vaccinations was still weeks away. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released in April 2021 would later back up those concerns, finding that indoor dining in bars and restaurants increased the risks of disease transmission and super-spreading events.<\/p>\n

To help restaurants, the city of Durango, La Plata County and the state and federal governments offered financial assistance, and SJBPH offered to help restaurants apply. Closing restaurants to in-person dining was not something SJBPH wanted to do, Jollon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t like it either, but this is what we do when lives are on the line,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Martinez, who has worked in the restaurant industry for nearly 50 years beginning with Lori\u2019s Family Dining, where Durango Doughworks now sits, shared frustration with the unceremonious end to the Martinezes\u2019 lawsuit and now CJ\u2019s Diner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really disappointed in how the judge handled the whole thing,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cHe sits on it for six months and right before he retires, he just throws it out. It has a huge effect on (the sale of CJ\u2019s Diner). It\u2019s not the only reason, but it definitely played an influence in us saying, \u2018I think we\u2019re done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With the sale of CJ\u2019s Diner, he said Durango will miss out on more than a popular two-decade-old restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go get a hamburger anywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re more than a restaurant. We know when people are dying of cancer, when they\u2019re walking through things with their family. \u2026 Our customers have been loyal to us for all the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to CJ\u2019s Diner, Martinez has also stepped away from the four community boards he sat on, including the Hundred Club of Durango, in which he has been involved for years and served as president.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s not sure what is next for him. With no immediate plans, there is a chance he leaves Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my 49th year of doing it and I\u2019m just kind of tired,\u201d he said, noting that the entirety of the pandemic has taken a toll.<\/p>\n

For Martinez, the end of two decades of CJ\u2019s Diner was in sight, but the last year and a half has expedited that process and made it a difficult finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty frustrated. And when you\u2019re frustrated, I think you speed up your timetable,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the hard part people don\u2019t understand doing this court case. This hasn\u2019t been easy, and for it to be handled like it was, I feel spit on.\u201d<\/p>\n

ahannon@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carrie Martinez to step away from restaurant after more than two decades<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,2532,338,364,950,438,439,28,450,3593],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-business-and-finance","tag-business-enterprises","tag-community","tag-durango","tag-food","tag-food-drink","tag-headlines","tag-restaurant-and-catering","tag-restaurants-dgo-nav"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84850,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41102\/revisions\/84850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41102"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}