Three Chattanooga restaurants will not be able to sell beer for a while starting next week, since they served to a minor who went under cover for the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC).
“They sent somebody in who was under 21 accompanied by a special agent, and [the restaurants] sold to the person,” Assistant City Attorney Keith J. Reisman said.
Big River Grille & Brewing Works and Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que near Hamilton Place mall will have their beer sales suspended starting Monday and will not be able to sell beer again until after May 18. El Matador at 9203 Lee Highway near Interstate 75 in Ooltewah got a 30-day suspension from May 12 through June 11.
The city of Chattanooga’s Beer and Wrecker Board approved the suspensions at its meeting this week. The three restaurants already have had their liquor and wine sales suspended for the same 10-day or 30-day periods by state regulators, he said.
The city beer board voted unanimously to suspend beer sales at the three restaurants with one exception. One board member voted against suspending sales at Big River Grille, Reisman said, after its representative gave a whole list of things the chain restaurant had done to try to ensure that the sale of alcohol to underage customers doesn’t happen again.