Covid and 51%

[RPBrown]

Found a good issue with the current rules on Covid. A little sports grille that I like to eat at unfortunately had to post 51% signs at the end of last year. With the new rules for bars/restaurants, they now are less than 51% alcohol sales and they have changed their license for restaurant service with less than 51% and signs have gone blue.

[KC5AV]

Are they allowed to make that determination at their own discretion? I thought the sign color was based on what they report to TABC.

[Keith B]

Are they allowed to make that determination at their own discretion? I thought the sign color was based on what they report to TABC.

When a business renews their license with the TABC, they must declare if they are 51% or not based on the income source. I will bet that is what they had to do and since their food sales outweighed the alcohols sales, they had to now declare they were not a 51% establishment.

[RPBrown]

Are they allowed to make that determination at their own discretion? I thought the sign color was based on what they report to TABC.

When a business renews their license with the TABC, they must declare if they are 51% or not based on the income source. I will bet that is what they had to do and since their food sales outweighed the alcohols sales, they had to now declare they were not a 51% establishment.

I am assuming that is what they did. I know they closed for 2 weeks to obtain a different license from TABC and now the red sign is gone and the blue has been put up. I guess similar to what Billy Bobs and some of the others have done to stay in business

[der Teufel]

I don't have a link, but I recently saw an article that said numerous bars were installing kitchens so that they could re-open as a <51% establishment. The TABC is apparently cooperating. If they didn't have a true kitchen, they have to put one in, including things like grease traps, etc. It's not necessarily cheap, but it lets them get back in business. Some places are requiring customers to purchase food so that they can keep the total alcohol sales under 51%. I think the article I read said one place brought a food truck onto the premises to sell food. Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

[Papa_Tiger]

Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

This right here should be how it is ALL the time - not just when it is convenient for the owners. These "creative accounting practices" and loopholes need to be closed. Either you are a 51% establishment and you have to follow the rules of that type of location (and have its perceived benefits), or you are not and you have to abide by the other set of rules.

[Keith B]

I don't have a link, but I recently saw an article that said numerous bars were installing kitchens so that they could re-open as a <51% establishment. The TABC is apparently cooperating. If they didn't have a true kitchen, they have to put one in, including things like grease traps, etc. It's not necessarily cheap, but it lets them get back in business. Some places are requiring customers to purchase food so that they can keep the total alcohol sales under 51%. I think the article I read said one place brought a food truck onto the premises to sell food. Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

I hadn’t thought about this angle. As said, creative accounting is how some anti-gun businesses end up as 51% in the first place. They definitely need to audit some of these to make sure what revenue divisions being reported are accurate.

[PUCKER]

Some of the local "restaurants" here in Grapevine barely scrape by under 51% - it seems there is a lot of "food catering" and such done to keep them under 51%...because, well, you know, we can't have "bars" in Grapevine (there may be one at DFW Airport - I've seen the 51% sign there, not sure if it was on the Grapevine or Irving side of the airport). I will say, my favorite place (Tap In) has AMAZING food...which surprises many folks...it looks like a bar to me (and many others - shoot, I'm a regular, always a certain table on a certain night)...but it is a restaurant...

[RPBrown]

I am not sure how the restaurant I go to was allowed to open in Irving. Irving has a 50% food to alcohol code requirement for restaurant/bar to get their CO. However, before this happened, TABC had them listed as 51%.

[ScottDLS]

Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

This right here should be how it is ALL the time - not just when it is convenient for the owners. These "creative accounting practices" and loopholes need to be closed. Either you are a 51% establishment and you have to follow the rules of that type of location (and have its perceived benefits), or you are not and you have to abide by the other set of rules.

Better yet. Get rid of the prohibition on carry in 51% locations.

[G.A. Heath]

One location in my area that is no longer 51% (I do not know if this changed before or after the Covid-19 shutdown) is a location that had an incident where a customer was shot and killed while the owner was shot but survived while the location was 51%. The killer shot and killed one other person at a second scene as well as injured another at the second scene.

The victims at the second scene were family by marriage. We recently got a 51% location across the street from where I work, it is now a non-51% location. I suspect the location next to where I work is requiring food purchases in order to stay under 51% Note these locations are all private clubs.

[Flightmare]

Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

This right here should be how it is ALL the time - not just when it is convenient for the owners. These "creative accounting practices" and loopholes need to be closed. Either you are a 51% establishment and you have to follow the rules of that type of location (and have its perceived benefits), or you are not and you have to abide by the other set of rules.

Better yet. Get rid of the prohibition on carry in 51% locations.

I wrote a piece of legislation that I have been handing to state reps/senators in the area that would do just that, along with responses to the antis who would say we are supporting drinking and carrying (spoiler alert, I'm not).

[ralewis]

Others had not been including things like ticket sales for live music events, and when they totaled that up their alcohol sales dropped to under 51%.

Some slightly creative business practices and accounting, but nothing illegal.

This right here should be how it is ALL the time - not just when it is convenient for the owners. These "creative accounting practices" and loopholes need to be closed. Either you are a 51% establishment and you have to follow the rules of that type of location (and have its perceived benefits), or you are not and you have to abide by the other set of rules.

Better yet. Get rid of the prohibition on carry in 51% locations.

Yes.. This is long overdue. IMO the 'blue" sign should be applied to anywhere that sells alcohol regardless of % on premise sales. We've got a long positive history of lawful licensed carry, and I can't imagine this causing the least bit of problem. I just don't understand why it hasn't happened yet -- thought for sure this would have passed long before Open Carry of handguns.

And this specific COVID temporary "not a bar" loophole happened with a place in Cedar Park that my wife and i frequent. I as always left it in the car, but seems to me if they have applied the loophole that should also extend to handgun licensees...... Mostly though i just wanted a meal and a beer so I left it in the car and enjoyed myself..... LOL

[Soccerdad1995]

Since establishments cannot legally be open right now unless they get less than 51% of their revenue from alcohol sales, can't we simply assume that any establishment that is open for business is NOT a 51% location? In other words, do we even need to worry about searching for a blue or red sign?