GREEN BAY — There were three liquor licenses available, and nine people already waiting when city clerk’s office opened at 7:30 a.m. today.
Basudev Adhikari said he was there at 6:30 a.m.; yet he was already fourth in line for the three licenses.
“We hoped someone would have their application filled out wrong,” said Adhikari, owner of The Spices, an Indian-Nepalese restaurant on University Avenue.
All of the 172 liquor licenses the Green Bay clerk’s office are allowed to issue had been taken until Wednesday morning when three unrenewed liquor licenses were released. Those three were picked up by new business owners hoping to open in August.
Leanna Rodriguez and her partner were the first in line. She said her father-in-law had sat in a chair since midnight holding their spot.
Jamie Fuge, the deputy clerk, began reviewing their two-page application, the questionnaire about Latin Flavor Bar and Grill, the Mexican-Dominican restaurant they plan to open in August on Main Street, their legal history, their statement of intent, their seller’s permit, their lease, their business security plan. Documents that had taken hours to put together were approved in three minutes.
Rodriguez pulled out her card to pay the $25 application fee as Jon Phillips and his business partner stepped up to the counter, hoping they filled out everything correctly to open Casuals Soccer Pub on Aug. 17 and attract the Saturday morning crowd to Main Street with bloody marys and soccer during brunch time.
In 16 minutes, the deputy clerk apologized to Adhikari and his group of three. “I’m sorry,” the deputy clerk said. “You guys are fourth in line, but we’re all out of liquor licenses, but you all were so dedicated.”
“So, so dedicated,” Adhikari said, waving a goodbye. They were last to arrive but the first to leave.
Meanwhile, the clerk behind the counter yelled to the back, “Nate, go to IT on the fourth floor and tell them we need computers, stat.”
The Wi-Fi in City Hall had cut out, and the three liquor applicants couldn’t pay their application fee by card.
The third group in line from The Rivercrest LLC, 201 Main St., paid first. The Rivercrest address is the same as Hampton Inn Green Bay.
Phillips’ business partner at Casuals Soccer Pub left to get checks.
“I’d rather sit and wait, pay the $25 than the $10,000 for the reserve,” Phillips said with a laugh.
Green Bay may issue up to 32 reserve licenses that allow businesses, like Adhikari’s Indian-Nepalese restaurant, to serve hard alcohol while they wait for days like Wednesday to submit their liquor application. The fee for reserve licenses, which can’t move to another business location and are non-transferable, is set at $10,000 by Wisconsin law.
Phillips’ partner arrived with the checks. Second to arrive, second to leave.
Meanwhile Rodriguez attempted to pay over the phone. Her partner had left the clerk’s office for the first time that day to get checks. The phone disconnected in the middle of the transaction. It was 8:20 a.m.
“Checks are here,” said the deputy clerk when Rodriguez’s partner came back.
The rest of the office exclaimed that their computers and phones were back online, just as Rodriguez signed on the signature line: so “the last shall be first, and the first last” as the Bible verse goes.
What happens next?
Latin Flavor Bar and Grill, 351 S. Washington St.; Casual Soccer Pub, 1238 Main St.; and The Rivercrest LLC will conduct a police interview before the City Council grants their licenses on Aug. 27 after paying the $600 fee for the license.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the Green Bay community and politics in northeastern Wisconsin. An East Coast native who’s lived primarily in Appalachia and Pennsylvania, he graduated with a master’s in journalism from Columbia University prior to working at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact him at [email protected] or call at 920-431-8247.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay’s 3 available liquor licenses to to new business owners
Source Agencies
