NORTHAMPTON — Six bars and restaurants admitted during hearings before the city’s License Commission on Thursday that they served underage patrons during a liquor compliance check last month.
The compliance check was conducted June 30 by city police officers and seven underage volunteers who checked 101 establishments, including 21 that were closed.
Representatives from those bars and restaurants — The Roost, Taipei & Tokyo, La Veracruzana, Sakura Buffet and Vegan Palate, Fairfield Inn & Suites and ConVino Wine Bar — confirmed the violations during Thursday’s hearings.
“It’s the first time we’ve had an infraction in 5½ years,” said Adam Dunetz, owner of The Roost at 1 Market St., adding that the employee who served the offending Pabst Blue Ribbon no longer works at the cafe. “I know he feels awful and so do we.”
The commissioners voted to suspend The Roost’s liquor license for two days, but the sanction will not be imposed if there are no further violations during the next six months.
“What we do in these situations is look to see if there’s a history or a pattern,” said Commissioner Elaine Reall.
The punishment was the same for all of the establishments — a two-day suspension that will be served only if there are more violations within six months — except for Sakura at 261 King St., whose probationary period was extended for two years.
The commissioners present, Chairman William Rosen and Reall, imposed the lengthier probation for Sakura because it had previously served a minor on Feb. 28, 2013.
“We’d like to avoid having you come back and visit us,” Reall told owner Yi Qiang Chen, asking him to train his staff. “We strongly urge you to do this so we don’t have to impose sanctions that affect your livelihood.”
In some cases, including Taipei & Tokyo at 16 Crafts Ave., commissioners asked owners and managers to get certification under the TIPS program, which provides training for servers and bartenders.
“I always teach my servers to check ID before we serve,” said Taipei & Tokyo owner Kung Huan Chen.
Some of the scenarios described by the police, like one at La Veracruzana, 31 Main St., prompted more discussion during the hearings.
“You’re not the police, are you?” the employee, Esther Garcia, who served a Corona Light to the underage volunteer asked him after he told her he did not have identification, according to the report filed by police.
“I guess it was just a silly joke,” Garcia, who attended Thursday’s hearing, told the commissioners.
La Veracruzana had a previous violation from 2009, but the commissioners agreed that, because the violation was so old, it felt “stale” and decided not to consider it during Thursday’s hearing.
Owners spoke matter-of-factly about their mistakes.
“The second they paid for (the wine) we woke up and looked at them,” said Caroline McDaniel, owner of ConVino Wine Bar at 101 Armory St., who added that the incident occurred at the end of a shift as servers were busily cashing out. “It’s not our policy to not ID people, but it slipped.”
Compliance checks are conducted regularly by the city and they often result in a handful of violations, including one in December 2014 which resulted in hearings for seven restaurants.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.