Off-duty Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies stood between chef Zachary McClendon and the front door of his own restaurant this week, a confrontation the veteran Houston chef captured on video and posted to Facebook. BeauSoleil HTX, the French bistro McClendon opened in Garden Oaks, is set to reopen Thursday even as a bitter legal battle between its co-owners plays out in Harris County court.
The video, posted Wednesday, shows deputies blocking McClendon and business partner Marcus Dotson from entering the restaurant at 963 Judiway Street, according to chron.com. The deputies reportedly said they had been hired to secure the premises on behalf of Miguel Facundo, one of the restaurant's other co-owners, but also acknowledged they did not have a court order authorizing them to block entry. McClendon said in a statement that the incident raised concerns that the sheriff's office's actions may have violated constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
McClendon, who has more than two decades of experience in Houston's restaurant industry, including a stint as chef-partner at Cottonwood and a run of Elements HTX steak night pop-ups, opened BeauSoleil in the Garden Oaks space in April 2025, according to Houston Food Finder. The site previously housed a patio bar called The Canary, and plans for a concept called Erne's Pickleball & Kitchen were filed on the parcel in 2022 before falling through, per the Houston Area Information Forum. Erne's Pickleball and Kitchen LLC ultimately became the entity behind BeauSoleil, entering a commercial lease with 963 Judiway LLC in September 2023.
A Partnership That Soured Fast
Zachary and Briana McClendon entered an operating agreement with Facundo and Dotson as members of Erne's Pickleball and Kitchen LLC in September 2023. According to court documents cited by the outlet's report, the partnership began to deteriorate that same year. The McClendons filed a lawsuit against 963 Judiway LLC, Facundo and Dotson in December 2025, alleging a long list of financial and operational abuses.
Court filings allege Facundo took unpermitted distributions from the business, double-paid rent to a company he controlled, and submitted false or padded invoices. The filings also allege he emptied the company bank account to a negative balance, caused payroll tax payments to bounce, and prevented the McClendons from accessing payroll, scheduling systems and vendor relationships. Additional allegations include that Facundo withheld security footage needed for Texas Workforce Commission and insurance purposes, requested refunds on already-discounted meals, demanded discounts beyond an agreed partner limit, and issued large personal comps without permission.
The lawsuit further alleges Facundo threatened employees, fired staff in fits of rage, refused to terminate employees the McClendons say were proven to have committed fraud, and caused loud scenes in front of customers. Perhaps most seriously, the McClendons allege Facundo locked them out of the business entirely and, in a separate incident, assaulted Briana McClendon. Facundo and 963 Judiway LLC have denied the allegations in their answer to the lawsuit and have asked the court to deny the McClendons' requested injunction.
What the McClendons Are Asking the Court to Do
The McClendons are seeking a range of temporary injunctive orders: barring the defendants from withdrawing money from company accounts, prohibiting direct communication with the McClendons, blocking the defendants from directing BeauSoleil employees, and preventing disruption of utilities or vendor relationships. They also want the court to bar unauthorized free or discounted food and beverage, prohibit lockouts except for nonpayment of rent, and prevent the defendants from entering the restaurant while the case proceeds. Beyond the injunctions, the McClendons are seeking the expulsion of Dotson, Facundo and 963 Judiway LLC from the business, or an equitable buyout, along with $250,000 or less in monetary relief.
Forcing a member out of a Texas LLC is not straightforward. Under Texas Business Organizations Code Section 101.107, a member cannot be expelled from or withdraw from the company unless the company agreement or state statute explicitly allows it, according to FindLaw. That statutory rigidity helps explain why the McClendons turned to the courts rather than attempting to force out their partners directly. Separately, Texas Business Organizations Code Section 101.502 grants LLC members the right to inspect company books, financial records and tax returns, giving legal weight to the McClendons' allegations that access to records was withheld, according to Cook Keith & Davis.
As of the latest court docket, the presiding judge has not granted the McClendons' requested temporary restraining order or injunction. That is consistent with the high bar Texas law sets for emergency relief: under Rule 680 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, a TRO can only be granted without notice to the other side if sworn facts show immediate and irreparable injury, and any such order automatically expires after 14 days, per L&L Law Group. A full hearing on the requested relief is scheduled for December 7.
Deputies Caught in the Middle
The presence of off-duty sheriff's deputies at a private business standoff raises its own legal questions. Off-duty officers working secondary security jobs lack legal authority to enforce private property rules or resolve civil disputes without probable cause or a court order, according to Houston Metro Security. Law enforcement agency guidelines generally treat off-duty secondary employment as a privilege, not a right, and prohibit officers from taking outside work that creates a conflict of interest or draws them into civil litigation, per UT System Police policy.
McClendon said he and his associates were simply trying to protect their business, employees, partners and work. He also said some matters should be handled through documentation, attorneys and the legal process rather than arguments on Facebook, even as he posted video of the confrontation to that same platform.
Reopening Amid Restaurant Weeks
BeauSoleil had been temporarily closed for remodeling at its Judiway Street location before this week's confrontation, and it is set to reopen Thursday. The reopening comes as the bistro participates for the first time in Houston Restaurant Weeks, the citywide dining promotion benefiting the Houston Food Bank that runs from August 1 through September 7, according to Hello Woodlands. Since opening in April 2025, BeauSoleil had expanded from dinner and weekend brunch to add weekday lunch service by June of that year, reflecting steady growth before the legal fallout began.
BeauSoleil sits in a stretch of Garden Oaks and Oak Forest that has seen its converted neighborhood properties turned into a growing dining destination, alongside concepts like Cottonwood and d'Alba Craft Kitchen & Cocktails, according to The Sansone Group. Whether that momentum survives the ownership fight now remains an open question, with the December hearing looming as the next major test of who controls BeauSoleil's future.
