Los Angeles County has dropped its longrunning lawsuit against the owners of the now-closed Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill in Burbank that alleged the eatery disobeyed the county’s then-outdoor dining ban in late 2020.

The County Counsel’s Office filed court papers on May 1 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen-Duffy Lewis asking that the case be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled later on proper legal grounds. The court papers do not state the reason for the county’s decision.

Through its operating company, Barfly Inc., and Tinhorn Flats CEO Baret Lepejian, the Magnolia Boulevard eatery had filed a countersuit to the county’s underlying public nuisance suit in July 2021, maintaining that Tinhorn Flats “suffered immensely” during the brief outdoor dining ban while other non-essential businesses were allowed to stay open.

In court papers filed in November, Barfly attorneys criticized the county for asking the judge to declare it the “prevailing party” and award about $330,000 in attorneys’ fees.

“This case has been a study in overreach,” the Barfly attorneys stated in their court papers regarding the county’s case filed in January 2021. “The county claims its litigation objectives were achieved back in 2021, when Burbank obtained its own restraining orders, yet it continued to litigate for years, running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in public attorney time…”

In early 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health revoked Tinhorn Flats’ health permit, and its conditional-use permit was subsequently canceled by the Burbank City Council.

In June 2021, Baret Lepejian’s ex-wife, Isabelle Lepejian, obtained possession of the Burbank restaurant, successfully completing an eviction process she initiated against the eatery as the property owner. She also is the mother of the Lepejian children, including Lucas Lepejian, then 20, who was arrested by Burbank police for being on the property when he was allegedly not permitted to be there.

Isabelle Lepejian later sold the property to Old Fashioned Investment LLC.