51% inside Paramount in Austin

[austin-tatious]

We went to see Screwtape Letters at the Paramount in Austin yesterday afternoon. We got there early to enjoy the old theatre and spent about 30 minutes in the downstairs lobby area before getting our seats. There is a bar in the lobby that serves soft drinks as well as alcoholic drinks. It's about 25 feet long. Since it was less crowded over by the bar, we stood in that area a little while until I saw a 51% sign on the wall on the right side behind the counter. I did not go close enough to read it. The red 51 is very prominent however, and I suppose the wording is likely correct.

Give they serve soft drinks as well as alcohol, and that their gross receipts from ticket sales must far exceed the receipts from alcohol sales, how can this sign be properly posted? And I saw many more people with soft drinks that with glasses of wine.

I know there is a way to look up liquor licenses, so I plan to check that out. I also I have not checked yet to see if the bar is owned by the Paramount or an independent operator.

BTW, Screwtape is a fantastic, funny and uplifting show.

[Kythas]

Notify the TABC. They'll check it out and make them post the proper sign if they've improperly posted the 51%.

[der Teufel]

Hmmm, I frequent the Paramount and never even thought to look at their sign at the bar. I don't buy alcohol there, but AFAIK the bar is part of the Paramount -- receipts go to the Paramount. Their markup on alcohol may mean that bar sales come mostly from that source rather than non-alcoholic sales, but overall revenues are certainly mostly from tickets. Screwtape tickets in the Mezzanine (lower balcony) were $50/each! By all means please check with TABC and let us know what's up!

The Screwtape Letters was rather monotonous, and not all that funny. Mainly it was weird, which I suppose fits right in with Austin's traditions.
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[dicion]

Call the TABC and/or go look at their actual License.

Only way to know for sure.

The Signs mean nothing. It is only a defense to prosecution if they're not properly posted at a real 51% location.
Non-51% locations, even with improperly posted 51% signs are fine for carry. It's the location's license that matters, not which signs are up.

[austin-tatious]

Call the TABC and/or go look at their actual License.

Only way to know for sure.

The Signs mean nothing. It is only a defense to prosecution if they're not properly posted at a real 51% location.
Non-51% locations, even with improperly posted 51% signs are fine for carry. It's the location's license that matters, not which signs are up.

I agree. I should have taken the time to look at their license. I bet it's blue.

TABC Public Inquiry says the license belongs to the Paramount. It is Mixed Beverage with subordinate LB which is "late hours". I'll call TABC tomorrow to see what other information they have.

[grumble]

My instructor (and I think he was a good one) told us that there are places such as this (the Paramount) that you should consider to be two separate entities - meaning the theatre is the theatre and you are allowed to carry if not 30.06, however if there is a SEPARATE bar area which is posted 51%, you may NOT enter the bar area.

Bottom line, my practice is "if it looks like a bar, smells like a bar, it's most likely a bar." e.g. TGIFridays - I'd not hesitate to carry on the premises to eat in the restaurant, however I'd NOT enter the bar area while carrying.

Of course this is just my 2¢

[Bayllor]

Learned the same info in my CHL course. Carry into the restaurant, if allowed, but stay clear of the bar area. Period.

[austin-tatious]

Joe at TABC informed me this morning that the Paramount bar does indeed generate more than 50% of the Paramount's receipts. How about that. He agreed that maybe the fact they are non-profit could affect how the other receipts are counted.

For us, do we have any authoritative statements, code, or rulings that say we can carry as long as we are not in the bar area (other than CHL instructors...not that I doubt that info, but it would be very nice to have something in writing)? And how close to the bar does someone with their weapon have to be before they are in violation of the 51% law?

[srothstein]

The answer then is to look at the license application itself. If the license is for the whole building, then the whole premises is off-limits. If the license is just for an area of the building, then only that part of the building is off-limits. This is done during the application by a process known as diagramming off the non-licensed parts of the building.

I find it hard to believe that the whole theatre makes less than half of the income. TABC makes this determination on the basis of an application that asks what percentage of the money comes from alcohol sales, what percentage from food, and what percentage from everything else. They may have reported this to TABC as being 51% alcohol, but I find it hard to believe.

The way to check and get the license corrected is to protest the renewal. Anyone can protest for any reason. Protest on the grounds that the amounts are not being reported properly (probably not including the ticket prices since they don't see that as sales or they only included the bar sales). TABC will investigate the complaint when the renewal comes around and one of three things will happen. The theater will report its income differently and the 51% will come down, the theater will decide the licens eis not worth the hassle of fighting the protest, or the theater will prove it was right and continue with things as they are. You get to decide how much you want to fight it.

[austin-tatious]

When I talked to Joe at TABC on Monday, he reported they had submitted a report of a dollar amount sales for alcohol separately from the dollar amount from the rest of sales in what I believe he called their latest annual report of sales. Both amounts were 6 figures with the alcohol sales the greater of the two.

I plan to contact Joe again and see if he will tell me if the application diagrammed off anything. If they did not, I guess the Paramount is out for us for the future. If so, I will inform the management, and I will protest their renewal.

Thank you, Steve.

[der Teufel]

When I talked to Joe at TABC on Monday, he reported they had submitted a report of a dollar amount sales for alcohol separately from the dollar amount from the rest of sales in what I believe he called their latest annual report of sales. Both amounts were 6 figures with the alcohol sales the greater of the two.

I find it pretty amazing that the Paramount would get greater revenue from alcohol sales than from tickets. As noted, it's not like they've set up a separate entity for the bar -- their liquor license (# MB155395) on the TABC web page shows the license is owned by the Paramount itself.

Still, maybe the theater crowd drinks more heavily than I imagined. On the other hand, maybe they just slipped a decimal when they filled out the application? Maybe they count ticket sales as charitable contributions?

sign me -- Mystified !!
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PS: I'm pretty sure they're registered as a non-profit with the IRS, which I believe means their tax return is public information -- if anyone wanted to go to the trouble of looking it over.

[ghostrider]

any further updates to this?

[bigred90gt]

Learned the same info in my CHL course. Carry into the restaurant, if allowed, but stay clear of the bar area. Period.

I do not believe that to be correct. It might not be bad advice, but legally, I do not believe it is binding. In Louisiana, according to their CHL licensing office, it is, but not in Texas. I suppose if the bar within a restaurant was a separate entity with a separate license, it would be true, but I've never heard of that actually happening. It would be a nightmare the accountants.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Observations from above discussion:

Tickets are $50 each, yet alchohol sales generate > 51% of receipts??

It appears that the movie patrons don't drink anymore (not since they invented funnels!!). :-)

Maybe Austin PD's enforcement efforts should be aimed toward DWI patrons
and not CHL's.

SIA

[austin-tatious]

any further updates to this?

I'm sorry to say I've dropped the ball on this. I had tried numerous times to re-contact the person at the beverage commission about whether the bar area license was for a restricted area around the bar or for the whole theater, then life got in the way. I'm of the opinion, since a lot of patrons take drinks into the seating area and guzzle while watching the show, that the whole theater is 51%. OTOH, I agree it seems unlikely that the bar generates > 50% of the revenue given the price of the tickets!