A lawsuit involving a popular Houston restaurant has evolved into a proxy war over gentrification in the Third Ward and ensnared the city of Houston, accusing health officials of ignoring complaints about the eatery’s smoke emissions.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, six nearby residents sued Turkey Leg Hut for producing wood smoke they say poses a health risk to people in the surrounding area.

The residents, who say they first aired their concerns with the city, also suggested Mayor Sylvester Turner’s social ties to the restaurant have given owners Lynn and Nakia Price a free pass. The Prices, through a spokesperson, disputed the allegation. Turner declined comment.

Turkey Leg Hut and its supporters have cast the lawsuit as a thinly veiled attempt by “colonizers and gentrifiers” to force the bustling black-owned restaurant out of the neighborhood, a claim the plaintiffs — who are Asian, black, Hispanic and white — refute, noting they each lived in the area before the restaurant opened.

The lawsuit, filed in the 152nd District Court, seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction on Turkey Leg Hut’s operations. Last month, a judge lifted an order that had blocked the restaurant from cooking at certain hours, allowing it to operate during the Thanksgiving holiday but enforcing the ban overnight on Monday through Wednesday this week.

The restaurant sits on the 4800 block of Almeda Road in the old Third Ward, a historically black neighborhood that has seen its home values soar and diversity erode in recent years, due largely to the neighborhood’s proximity to downtown and an influx of townhome developers. Responses to the lawsuit have reflected some residents’ dismay over the trend, with one Turkey Leg Hut defender calling the restaurant a “bulwark against gentrification.”

Amplifying the racial tension is Turkey Leg Hut’s popularity among local residents, high-profile patrons and tourists who frequently withstand hour-long waits for the reputed smoked turkey legs. The restaurant attracts politicians, athletes and artists, and recently provided catering for Kanye West’s performance at Lakewood Church.

The plaintiffs have implicated City Hall in the legal challenge, alleging the restaurant began business operations without getting the appropriate permits from the city. They also have questioned why the city has allowed Turkey Leg Hut to operate an outdoor pit area despite food safety citations and an ordinance they say prohibits the practice of smoking meat outside.

Health inspections

In an affidavit, Lisa Edwardsen, a former city food inspector, said Houston’s food ordinance requires pit rooms to be “fully enclosed in an insect and rodent proof room and provide proper ventilation and smoke mitigation.”

In a statement, the health department said the city has inspected Turkey Leg Hut more than two dozen times since it opened in 2017. The restaurant received food safety citations in July 2018 and August 2019, and in both cases, “the violations were not imminent health threats and it was not necessary to order the establishment to stop operating,” according to the health department.

Meanwhile, a city health department inspector wrote in a February 2019 report that the restaurant “is supposed to submit additional plans for exterior BBQ pit area that was added without prior plan review or field approval.” A subsequent June report shows Turkey Leg Hut was “informed of the proper steps to obtain permits and operate the exterior food establishment in accordance with the Houston Food Ordinance.”

The restaurant has a “Food Dealer’s Permit” and a “Fats, Oils and Grease Permit,” city records show, and received a certificate of occupancy in February 2019, according to Houston Public Works. Before then, the city said it “had received no complaints about the establishment lacking such a permit.”

As for the cooking area, the health department said, “Outdoor smokers and barbeque pits are legal from an environmental health perspective as long as they do not pose a public nuisance.” A city spokesperson declined to say whether Turkey Leg Hut had been flagged for nuisance complaints, directing the Chronicle to a city official who handles public information requests.

In its first legal response, Turkey Leg Hut alleged that the “true genesis for the lawsuit is not smoke or noise, but rather the desire to eliminate a popular and busy restaurant” from the neighborhood. They cited an email sent to the plaintiffs by another resident, who wrote the “ultimate goal of this litigation is obviously for the TLH to be somewhere else and not on our corner, but that cannot be the stated goal.”

In a news conference Nov. 22, Nakia Price said the lawsuit “was filed by a handful of people who want to vilify the Turkey Leg Hut as a nuisance to the community.”

Kristin Bird, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, denied that the residents want to “eliminate” Turkey Leg Hut.

“We don't want them out of business. We don't want them to leave,” Bird said Thursday. “We just want all of us to be able to coexist in peace.”

Turkey Leg Hut, the lawsuit says, has produced “excessive smoke” stemming from “the complete absence of approved ventilation systems or enclosures.” The lawsuit claims that wood burning, combined with burning fat, produces organic compounds that can cause cancer.

After the city inspection in February, the restaurant submitted plans for an “enclosed pit structure” and secured approval from the city “on the condition that Turkey Leg Hut obtain a replat of the lot from the Planning Commission,” said Sherrie Handrinos, a publicist for the restaurant.

The restaurant still is seeking the commission’s approval of the replat, a process Handrinos said was delayed when the commission recommended Turkey Leg Hut present its replat plans to a neighborhood association.

Plaintiffs allege Turner involved

Nonetheless, the plaintiffs say they provided city officials with “a wealth of information exposing the scope and extent of the problems emanating from” Turkey Leg Hut during a meeting in August, according to the lawsuit.

In response, the city “turned a blind eye,” the plaintiffs said. They allege Turner played a role, noting that the restaurant displays campaign signs for the mayor, features him in social media posts and hosted him as a “special guest” at a “fall festival and block party” in October that Turner did not list as an in-kind campaign contribution. Photos also show Turner visited Turkey Leg Hut the day after the residents’ meeting with the city, the plaintiffs note.

“To me, it's a little baffling that this business is allowed to continue to run because most of the time, when a restaurant gets citation after citation, it gets shut down until the things are fixed,” Bird said.

Asked about the plaintiffs’ comments, Sue Davis, a spokesperson for the Turner campaign, said, “We are looking into this and will amend our campaign finance report if necessary. The mayor attends hundreds of community events throughout the year, including this one, which was to promote economic development in that area.”

A video from the block party shows Turner speaking to a crowd about voting dates for the upcoming election and lauding Turkey Leg Hut for revitalizing the Almeda corridor.

Handrinos said the plaintiffs “have not produced one shred of evidence that Mayor Turner has gotten involved in this matter, and we know Mayor Turner is under the microscope right now because he is up for re-election.”

A temporary injunction hearing for the lawsuit has been set for Monday.

jasper.scherer@chron.com