Controversial Café Sold In Redwood City After Owner’s Trump 2028 Claim: Report

REDWOOD CITY, CA — A Redwood City cafe whose owner drew controversy for her support of President Donald Trump and attendance at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot has been sold, according to a report by SFGATE.

Chez Nous, which opened at 2159 Roosevelt Ave. during the COVID-19 pandemic, closed in June. Passport Cafe and Restaurant LLC will take over the space, according to a public notice cited by SFGATE.

Owner Maria Rutenburg initially told SFGATE that she decided to sell after Trump raised the possibility of seeking a third term and planned to donate proceeds from the sale to a potential Trump 2028 campaign.

But after that claim received attention, Rutenburg said she had been trolling Trump's critics. In a Facebook post, she refuted the claims about selling the cafe to fund a 2028 campaign.

"Just when you thought libs couldn’t possibly get any dumber," the post read. "I was happily poking the bear, feeding them complete BS about selling the café to help fund Trump’s 2028 presidential run.

"At this point, TDS may be the only condition where the symptoms include losing both your sense of humor and your ability to detect obvious trolling," the post continued.

Rutenburg later told SFGATE she had changed her position because Trump had acknowledged the constitutional prohibition against serving a third term.

Chez Nous had been a gathering spot for conservatives and Trump supporters and generated controversy almost from its opening in 2021.

Rutenburg opposed COVID-era restrictions and previously sought permission to paint “MAGA 2020” alongside a Black Lives Matter street mural in Redwood City.

She also attended the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, where she told NBC Bay Area at the time that she remained a Trump supporter despite being pepper-sprayed during the unrest, SFGATE reported.

The sale of Chez Nous closed last week, Rutenburg told SFGATE.

Read the full story at SFGATE.