Scotty Quixx staff ‘distraught’ after council closure, owners plan to appeal

Over two decades, Tony McCoy has witnessed firsthand the transformation of downtown. The longtime kitchen manager at Scotty Quixx was there when the area struggled to fill boarded up and vacant properties, and when it prospered, becoming a hub for local nightlife.

But Wednesday morning, after nearly 20 years working at the bar and nightclub, the 51-year-old father suddenly found himself out of job — the collateral damage from the city’s widening crackdown on Norfolk’s late-night establishments.

Norfolk’s City Council voted Tuesday evening to close Scotty Quixx, a staple of Granby Street nightlife, following several high-profile shootings in the downtown area, none of which happened at McCoy’s place of work. It’s the third club to be shut down by the city this month — and the city has set its sights on one more.

McCoy was working Tuesday night when he heard the news. He said the restaurant was packed with regulars who came out knowing it might be their last time in the building.

“I was hurting. I’ve been there for so long, it took everything out of me,” McCoy said. “I know Granby Street had a hard couple of years. But I never thought it would come down to this.”

McCoy said Scotty Quixx “had never gotten out of hand” like some other nightclubs and restaurants in the area. He said he will likely begin working at Pixels Pints and Bites or Torch Bistro, two restaurants in Ghent also run by Scotty Quixx’s owners.

Al Ragas, a co-owner of Scotty Quixx, said his 15 employees were “distraught” after hearing the club would close down. City Council’s action took effect immediately, and Tuesday became the club’s last day. The owners still need to clear out the food and alcohol, but gave everyone the day off Wednesday to process the news.

“For most of them, they just lost their main source of income,” Ragas said.

Joey Habr, a bartender at Scotty Quixx for 12 years, also was working when he heard the council voted to close the nightclub. He said his first thought after hearing the news was, “What am I going to do with my life?”

“I’ve saved up some money for a rainy day, but this is a flood,” Habr, 37, said.

Habr, who’s single and doesn’t have any children, said he just bought a house in Virginia Beach near Mount Trashmore, and he’s worried about making his mortgage payments if doesn’t get another job soon.

Habr said he doesn’t understand the reasoning behind the city’s crackdown on nightclubs.

“To blame (gun violence) on the restaurants is just weird to me,” Habr said. “If there’s a school shooting, do you blame it on the school or do you blame it on the person that went in there?”

Local deejay Kyle Siebels, better known as DJ CanRock, played his first paid set at Scotty Quixx 12 years ago. He held the Saturday night deejay spot there for nearly a decade.

Siebels said he disagrees with the way the city is handling the rise in violent crime in the city. By closing downtown nightclubs, the city is targeting the “young, diverse” crowd that makes downtown Norfolk so vibrant, he said.

“They’ve built up downtown Norfolk on the backs of urban nightlife. And now they want them out,” Siebels said.

City officials allege Scotty Quixx had “significant” discrepancies between the nightclub’s meals tax reporting and the amounts it reported to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority between October 2019 to September 2021, a violation of its conditional use permit.

But unlike some other nightclubs that have been shut down, it had no recent incidents of gun violence.

Scotty Quixx’s owners plan to file an appeal with the Norfolk Circuit Court, and potentially a lawsuit against the city, according to the nightclub’s attorney Kevin Martingayle.

Martingayle said the city’s closure of the club is “ridiculous,” and denied the owner’s due process rights.

“If that had been a court hearing, it would’ve been a joke,” Martingayle said of the City Council hearing. “It would have been laughed out of court.”

City Manager Chip Filer announced Aug. 5 the city would ramp up its enforcement of code violations in downtown Norfolk after a shooting outside Legacy Restaurant and Lounge injured four people, including a Norfolk sheriff’s deputy. It was the third in the string of downtown shootings recently.

The City Council revoked Legacy’s conditional use permit Sept. 13. The club has filed an appeal with Norfolk Circuit Court claiming the council’s decision was “unlawful” and politically motivated. An injunction hearing is set for Oct. 5.

Chicho’s Backstage on Granby Street, where a shooting occurred in March that left one person injured and three dead, including a Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press reporter, has not had its conditional use permit revoked by the city.

The City Council will decide whether to shutter another nightclub, California Burrito on Granby Street, on Oct. 11.

Daniel Berti, daniel.berti@virginiamedia.com