After robbery, restaurant offers discount for patrons with concealed carry permits
Art Bouvier has a message for criminals: Don’t mess with Papa Roux.
The Eastside restaurant owned by Bouvier was robbed Saturday night, the first time that’s happened in the popular Cajun eatery’s eight years of business. Now, Bouvier is offering a 25 percent discount to customers who can show a handgun license.
“I don’t want Papa Roux to turn into the O.K. Corral,” Bouvier told The Indianapolis Star by phone Sunday morning, “but I don’t want to be an easy target.”
Bouvier announced the discount offer on his Facebook page Saturday night, shortly after learning of the robbery. “If thugs are going to come in and threaten OUR extended family with guns, you’d better believe I will use every trick I know to protect (our family),” he wrote. The message drew more than 1,000 likes by 1 p.m. Sunday.
No one was injured in the robbery, which happened about 7:30 p.m. when several customers were dining inside the restaurant at 8950 E. 10th St…
According to Bouvier, the lone robber said, “I have a gun; I’m gonna need all the money out of your registers,” though the man did not show a weapon…
In an interview with The Star on Sunday, shift leader Hannah Watts said the man, who appeared to be in his 20s and was wearing a hoody, seemed friendly at first as he placed his order with another employee. When Watts returned to the counter, however, she heard him say, “Don’t move,” before he reached his hand into the tip jar and grabbed a wad of bills.
“I froze,” she said. “There was something about his voice”…
Bouvier said anyone who knows him knows he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but he’s never made it a business issue. Until now.
“We’re not saying, ‘Show us your gun.’ But if you’re a legal and stable carrier of a (handgun license), I’m going to reward that,” he said. “To me, it’s common sense. And until further notice, you’ll get 25 percent off your bill.”
The restaurant is popular with law enforcement personnel — and the presence of police vehicles in the parking lot can’t help but deter criminal activity, Bouvier said — but they won’t always be there…
Read More: After Papa Roux robbery, discount promised for handgun license holders
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