Restaurants vs. bars

By Robert Filicette

The Liquor Commission met Tuesday night to debate between Class A and Class E liquor licenses.

The main topic for discussion was to distinguish between Class A and E licenses and guidelines that represent each.

“The main thing for the A and E licenses is for the E liquor licenses aren’t always following regulations,” said Jeff Whelan, liquor commission member.

Commission members agreed that bars sometimes disguise themselves as restaurants.

“A restaurant is a place where you can sit down and eat and maybe have an after-dinner drink,” Whelan said. “A bar is a place where people go to maybe watch a sporting event and drink and maybe snack on something.”

Bars that act as restaurants don’t serve food for the whole time they serve alcohol. This means some establishments serve both food and alcohol, but they stop serving food at one point and continue selling alcohol. The commission stated that in these types of establishments, anyone entering the premises has to be 21 years old, even those who just want to eat.

Another issue that was taken up by the commission was police involvement in curbing the problems. It has been a problem for the police to keep up because of the amount of work.

“We are down officers and budget-wise things have been slashed too,” said DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen. “The time we spend enforcing liquor laws is a good portion of our time and need.”

Another issue talked about at the meeting was concerning the class A liquor license holders. The commission discussed that those license holders be permitted to open an hour earlier but not serve alcohol for the first hour they are open.