Short answer. No. The article on trespass to dwelling says in terms that it does not apply to anyone who enters cafés, taverns, inns and other public houses while the same are open. Walking into an establishment during its business hours is outside the provision altogether.
What the law says
nor to anyone who shall enter cafes, taverns, inns and other public houses, while the same are open
Revised Penal Code, Article 280 — Qualified Trespass To Dwelling. Read the full provision →
The exclusion is express
The article closes with a list of situations it does not touch, and this is one of them: it is not applicable nor to anyone who shall enter cafes, taverns, inns and other public houses, while the same are open. The reasoning is plain enough. A place that has opened its doors to the public has invited entry, so a customer walking in is not entering against anybody's will. The offence itself is about dwellings — homes — and an establishment holding itself out for business is the opposite of the private space the provision was written to protect.
The words that limit it are 'while the same are open'
The exclusion is tied to the state of the premises at the time, not to their character in general. A café is a public house when it is trading; the same building after closing, or before opening, is not open in the sense the clause uses. The other boundary is spatial. The invitation extends to the parts of the premises held out to customers, so a stock room, an office, a private area behind the counter, or living quarters attached to the business are not covered by the fact that the dining room was open. Both limits are questions of fact.
Being asked to leave is a different question
This is where most real disputes actually sit. The exclusion answers whether entering was a crime under this article; it says nothing about staying after the owner or staff have told you to go. Refusing to leave, causing a disturbance, or damaging something inside are separate matters governed by their own provisions, and a separate article of the Code deals with trespass to property that is not a dwelling. So a person told he is being charged with trespass for an incident at a restaurant should look closely at what is actually alleged — the entry, or what happened after it.
If a complaint has been made about you
Two facts usually decide it: whether the place was open at the time, and which part of the premises you were in. Both are ordinarily recorded by someone other than you. Posted hours, receipts, camera footage, staff rosters and the accounts of other customers are the sort of material that settles the point, and it is worth asking for it early because footage is overwritten quickly. Take the complaint itself, with whatever you have gathered, to counsel before offering your version to the establishment or to anybody else.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 280 — Qualified Trespass To Dwelling
- Revised Penal Code, Article 281 — Other Forms Of Trespass