As posted on the Going Out Gurus Blog:
Breaking News: Two Adams Morgan Bars Have Liquor Licenses Revoked, More Could Follow (Updated)
Two Adams Morgan bars had their liquor licenses revoked for low food sales at yesterday's meeting of D.C. Alcohol Control Board, and more closures could be on the horizon for establishments in the neighborhood and across the city.
Bossa and Bobby Lew's Saloon have a stay of 10 days in which they can file a motion for reconsideration from the board. If the appeals are not successful, the liquor licenses will simply disappear -- they cannot be sold or transferred to new businesses.
The issue is that many bars and nightspots in Washington are operating under restaurant-class licenses, which require businesses to derive either 45 percent of their gross receipts or at least $2,000 per seat in food sales. (The other usual option is a tavern license, which doesn't require food sales. Those are usually limited, though, and some neighborhoods, including Adams Morgan, have a moratorium on issuing new tavern licenses to prevent a buildup of bars.) Restaurants operating as defacto bars and nightclubs has been a problem for a long time, but the ABC board has begun to take more action in the last year.
According to Adams Morgan ANC Commissioner Bryan Weaver, four other Adams Morgan establishments are also in jeopardy of losing their licenses: Adams Mill Bar and Grill, Chloe, Ventnor Sports Cafe and Grand Central. "There are 16 places in Adams Morgan that are in non-compliance," by not hitting the 45 percent sales mark, Weaver said today, but "These [six establishments] are making less than 25 percent. [The ABRA board has] drawn this line in the sand."
Previously in I Heart DC:
- 2/13: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 2/13: 101 Reasons To Love DC-Part 1
- 2/10: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/9: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
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- 2/8: Perfect Date Outfits + Outings
- 2/7: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/6: DC News You Can Maybe Use:
- 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 2/1: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
God loves a cheerful giver.
It is retarded that they are enforcing this right now. If these places lose their licenses, they'll likely shut down entirely...and then what? We'll just have a lot of empty store fronts in Adams Morgan. With the economy being so slow, I doubt the spaces will be filled with legit restaurants any time soon. Lame.
I really hope all those shitholes go out of business.
dave - bossa is not a shithole
Bossa's great, why the hell would you want to be rid of bossa. Especially on that block
I agree that this is a really bad time to be doing this. While there may be some wisdom in trying to limit the amount of bars in Adams Morgan, they just should not be making decisions that are pretty arbitrary that will result in a worse economy. Poor planning here.
Maybe everything in Adams Morgan can shut down, except for the book store, and completely start over. That'd be swell.
It amazes me that it’s taken 20 years for ABRA to get off their butt and actually show that you need to be a restaurant. I’m not for closing some of the places down, but they should have applied for a tavern license when they went in front of the board. Maybe ANCs like Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle & George Town will finally lift their moratorium on new licenses now that ABRA has made it clear that if you apply for a restaurant license (the easiest to get) that you have to operate as one.
Apologies to Bossa. I meant the other shitholes. Bossa is the victim of being a place where it was easy to get drinks underage, which is what I think this is actually about. Since they can't punish known offenders for serving people underage unless an investigator catches them doing so, they're just going after them based on their permits. My guess is the recent GWU student death prompted it.
hm what student death?
Oh fuck them. I'm having a hard time understanding how a build up of bars is anything but good. Nightlife generates a shitload of money for the city and grows community. How the fuck has DC USA grown community in the city and kept profits in the city? Bars do a lot more for us and are a lot more fun.
We should just start opening squat bars.