An a wine package license was approved for Riverside Gourmet for select wine-tasting events.
The ACC examined a report by the Rome Police Department stemming from an incident on April 1 at the 425 Broad St. restaurant, in which law enforcement saw an unidentified employee serving alcohol without a permit.
Since this was the second alcohol service permit violation by the business, the ACC recommended a two-day suspension for the Peach Palace’s pouring license.
That request will go before the full City Commission at its May 3 meeting. The suspension days suggested by the ACC would be Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8, but the decision will be made by the City Commission.
The ACC also approved the request for several new pouring licenses, and it also approved a request for some special events that would serve alcohol.
The commission examined four requests for alcohol licenses at several businesses, and all four were approved after some discussion by the commission.
The requests were from Vipul Patel of The Market on 2nd, a beer and wine package license; Kevin Dillmon of Riverside Gourmet, a wine package license for select wine-tasting events; Jennifer Hoff of DJ’s Tavern, a beer and wine pouring license; and Donald Canada III of Broad Street Station, a beer, wine and liquor pouring license.
The Market is a convenience store on Second Avenue, while Dillmon is moving his business to 248 Broad St. Hoff is opening the new tavern at 17 John Davenport Drive, while Canada is planning to open Broad Street Station at 325 Broad, the former location of McCrobie’s.
In other business, the ACC approved a request by the Rome Symphony Orchestra to serve alcohol in the City Auditorium lobby during select concert events. The ACC also agreed to let Las Palmas on Riverside Parkway have a Cinco de Mayo party in the River Crossing parking lot on May 5.
The approval was done with the stipulation that surrounding businesses did not object, and that entry and consumption in the tent next to the restaurant would be strictly regulated.
The commission also examined the results of a recent survey about the food and drink ratio compared to other cities. The survey by the City Clerk’s office found that Dalton, Columbus, Valdosta, Smyrna, Gainesville and Statesboro all share the same 50-50 ratio as Rome. Some metro Atlanta communities, such as Marietta and Kennesaw, do not have a food-to-drink ratio.
The ACC said that the issue is one that is revisited on various occasions to see if the city’s policy needs any changes.
Agreed.
What are you doing commenting on this site like that?
Let us now look at some of the larger metro areas and what they are charged for licensing fees. Dekalb County’s fees for pouring Liquor, Beer, and Wine are $3900. Forsyth County charges $4000 for their pouring license. Gwinnett County charges $4500. Paulding County charges $8000.
With the numbers listed above, you can see why it is so hard for bars to stay open in Rome. They not only have the burden of these overpriced licensing fees, they must also put up with the strict regulations put on them by the ACC and the City Commissioners. Did I mention that you have to have a Entertainment License to have bands play? And if you do have the Entertainment License in place and you want to do anything outside of your normal business operations - you must apply for another permit? No chance to have a Cinco de Mayo party without the correct paperwork in place (yeah, a special events application and fee is required). Forget about having a promotion with the Wait Staff in bathing suits (adult ordinance violation). When anything out of the norm is to take place, the City of Rome has to have it's hand out wanting their portion. You would think "their portion" would have been covered by the $15,000 License Fee.
The City of Rome are setting up these businesses to fail from the start. I don’t see an entertainment venue in Rome ever succeeding unless some rules are changed. We’ll always have bars around because the mega chains (Applebee’s, Chili’s, Longhorn’s, etc) can always makes money because of their name and their food sales. They never worry about hitting the 50/50 food-drink ratio. But you will never be able to hear the local and talented bands play in these establishments either.
I think that if the city is set on tightly policing drinking establishments on Broad Street, they should just go ahead and prohibit drinking establishments on Broad St. I won't miss them, most patorns won't miss them, and the investors who start these businesses will be free to relocate to friendlier districts.
The anti-alcohol climate that prevails in this city is one reason I seldom if ever eat out in Rome. At my age, the only time I expect to be carded is at a traffic stop or if I'm stepping on an airplane. Any other context classifies as intrusive, and unfortunately, our restaurants are forced to participate in the hospitality industry in a less than hospitable manner, i.e., as cocktail cops. It's all part of an ongoing effort at social engineering on the part of your friendly local Baptists.