Es Tas Sports Bar and Grill, owned by Terry and Andy’s Tacos Inc. and located at 216 Stanton Ave., was served an eviction notice on Dec. 2.
The owners were ordered to leave Nov. 26 and a writ of possession was filed Dec. 2, enabling the landlord to reclaim the Campustown establishment.
The rent for Es Tas was around $4,900 per month. Terry and Andy’s Tacos Inc. allegedly owes more than $25,000 in penalties and rent to Campus Investors IS, LLC, according to court documents. Es Tas was notified on Nov. 5 to pay rent in full by Nov. 8.
On Wednesday, Es Tas’ owner, Terrance Cullen, appealed the court decision, claiming he was never served and said he “learned of the lawsuit when my employee told me the (Es Tas) door was locked by law enforcement,” according to the court documents.
Cullen gave an apology, stating “I apologize to the court for not being proactive about this. All I want to do is get current on rent. I can pay within a month. I have been waiting on my ERC credits.”
Cullen did not respond to the Daily’s request for comment.
Liquor license history
In March 2023, the Ames City Council voted to deny Es Tas its 12-month renewal for a liquor license following a recommendation from Ames Police Chief Geoff Huff, according to previous reporting by the Daily.
The restaurant and bar had passed two compliance checks but had 60 underage individuals cited on the premises. The Ames Police Department granted Es Tas a 50/50 status but it was revoked due to failure to uphold the agreement.
Luke Craven, an attorney representing Es Tas, said the Ames Police Department failed to notify the bar about the 60 citations until a few weeks prior and that Es Tas had been in the city without incident for 20 years prior to this.
“Basically, what we’re looking at here is a zero tolerance policy where a 20 year business is now potentially facing shutdown because of one violation,” Craven said.
After the denial, Ward 2 Rep. Tim Gartin said that in his ten years on the council, he has never heard blame placed on Ames Police for failure to notify the bar about citations and that, as a business in operation for 20 years, they should “know the ropes by now.”
Es Tas was encouraged to apply for the more restrictive 8-month license, which was approved unanimously at a meeting in Aug. 2023.
