Madison Restaurants Are Closing For Day Without Latinos

Some Madison restaurants will be closed on Thursday in observance of A Day Without Latinos, in which hundreds of Latinos are expected to stay home from work in protest of legislation they say is anti-immigrant.

Graze is one of more than a dozen restaurants that surround the Capitol building in downtown Madison. Owner Tory Miller said the restaurant will be closed for lunch on Thursday because of the Day Without Latinos protest.

“We just had to make a decision based on what we believe in,” he said. “Not necessarily how much money we could make, or how much money we were going to lose.”

Miller said he made the decision after some employees told him about the protest. More than half of Graze’s kitchen staff is Latino.

The walkout is intended to raise awareness towards two bills. One would prevent local governments from issuing photo IDs for people ineligible to get a state ID card. The other bill would prevent local governments from passing laws that bar police officers from asking crime suspects about their immigration status.

Graze isn’t the only Madison restaurant adjusting its operating hours for the protest: Quivey’s Grove has announced it will be closed all day in observance of the protest.