LIHU‘E — Those selling or serving alcohol in licensed establishments may prevent an embarrassing arrest at their workplaces by asking a single, simple question: How old are you? County liquor inspectors were relaying this message after representatives of six restaurants
LIHU‘E — Those selling or serving alcohol in licensed establishments may prevent an embarrassing arrest at their workplaces by asking a single, simple question: How old are you?
County liquor inspectors were relaying this message after representatives of six restaurants from ‘Ele‘ele to Wailua admitted employees sold liquor to minors in a Jan. 15 compliance check.
Those conducting such compliance checks are required to answer all questions truthfully and show valid identification that shows they are under 21 years old.
Several people last month didn’t ask the question, and were arrested by Kaua‘i Police Department officers for prohibitions, in these cases selling liquor to minors. The alleged offenders were taken to KPD headquarters for booking, and in several cases lost their jobs if their employers have zero-tolerance policies about those caught selling alcohol to anyone under the state’s legal drinking age.
They also face personal fines of up to $1,000 and up to a year in prison for the misdemeanors if convicted in state court.
The county Liquor Control Commission on Thursday fined several establishments $2,000 each for violating the state prohibitions law, with half of the fine amount suspended unless a repeat violation occurs at the same establishments within the next 12 months.
Appearing at the violation hearings were representatives of Brick Oven Pizza in Kalaheo, Grinds Espresso in ‘Ele‘ele, Keoki’s Paradise in Po‘ipu, Mariachi’s Mexican Cuisine and Market Street Diner in Nawiliwili, and Par 4 Da Course in Wailua.
They all admitted servers sold alcohol to those under 21 on Jan. 15, and all had a chance to explain what happened.
Several of the owners or managers said offending employees were terminated when the infractions were discovered, while others said they would hold onto their valued, experienced servers.
The proceedings took place in the Lihu‘e Civic Center Mo‘ikeha Building liquor control conference room.
Many of the owners and managers said identification of two O‘ahu women, ages 19 and 20, were checked, and the state’s vertical format for licenses and state identification cards for those under 21 should have been a clear signal not to serve them.
But they served them anyway, with the publicity surrounding their arrests, job loss and pending legal cases serving as stiff punishment already for their inattentive actions, one manager said.
Many of the restaurant representatives also said they have re-emphasized to all employees the importance of asking for identification of any patron appearing to be close to the legal age of 21.
“We don’t want to see you back here again,” Commissioner Gary Pacheco told the restaurant representatives.
One of the managers said training involving role-playing should be deployed, to allow workers to understand how to best determine if a customer is of the legal age to drink, and to avoid over-serving customers who appear to already have had too much to drink.
Several of the managers said running on short staff is one way of business survival, but where one establishment had only one server on the floor at the time of the alleged infraction, now there are two, even during normally slow, early afternoons.
At Keoki’s Paradise, quarterly meetings involving all servers and all employees always include training components for asking for proper identification, and include employee testing, said its representatives, including Jaime Arreola, Kaua‘i regional manager for Keoki’s and Duke’s Canoe Club Barefoot Bar & Restaurant, which are owned by the same corporation.
Keoki’s has 120 employees, and many of them were present when police arrested the server, who upon returning from KPD headquarters was terminated. It sent a strong message to the remaining employees, they said.
“We messed up and we apologize,” said Edward Valencia, owner of Market Street Diner in Nawiliwili’s Harbor Mall.
There was only one server on the floor on a usually slow Friday afternoon when she served one of the minors, he said.
“It was busy, she feels awful,” she’s been very dependable, and now she will never be alone on the floor again, Valencia said. “We can’t take the chance again.”
Joseph Tavares, owner of Par 4 Da Course, had just opened his restaurant for the day at Wailua Golf Course when he served one of the minors even after asking her for identification first.
“I carded them, I just wasn’t paying attention,” said Tavares. “No excuses. I just made a mistake.”
What is his planned punishment for himself? Pacheco asked Tavares. Tavares didn’t respond to that question. Tavares said another employee kept the restaurant open while he was taken to KPD headquarters.
There are around 200 Kaua‘i establishments with liquor licenses.
