Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The St. Louis Park bar and restaurant was able to raise food sales to city standards.
It's been a long year and a half for Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill, but the St. Louis Park establishment has finally hit the city's 50-50 food-to-liquor ratio and will go off probation. The bar and grill has had a probationary liquor license from the city since February of 2011, when Toby Keith's sales were at 31 percent food and 67 percent liquor. The city has required local establishments sell at least 50 percent food since 2000 in an effort to keep standalone bars out of St. Louis Park. As punishment, City Council can put non-complying locales on probation, impose fines, or even revoke liquor licenses. At a Monday night City Council meeting, Toby Keith's reported food sales of 51 percent and liquor sales of 49 percent since …
Monday, August 13, 2012
The city will be exploring it's 60-40 food-to-booze ordinance later this year.
St. Louis Park isn't the only place where the proper ratio of food-to-booze sales is a hot topic. Edina City Councilman Josh Sprague recently told Edina Patch that Edina’s 60-40 ordinance will be discussed at a work session on Dec. 4. The ordinance requires restaurants to have at least 60 percent of their sales come from food and non-alcoholic beverages. Sound familiar? It should—St. Louis Park requires a 50-50 split. The SLP ordinance drew attention last year when Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill missed the mark by a wide margin. The local establishment has closed the gap but, as of February, hadn't hit the 50-50 mark. St. Louis Park has had the provision in place since 2000, and council members have said it keeps St. Louis Park …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Police used an underage youth attempting to buy liquor to test the businesses.
Last month, five of the 51 businesses in St. Louis Park with liquor licenses failed alcohol compliance checks. The businesses are: Best of India, El Patron, Wok in the Park, Pei Wei and Grand City Buffet. In a compliance check, a police officer works with an underage youth who attempts to purchase alcohol from a bar, restaurant, liquor store or other licensed outlet. If the clerk/server asks for ID and refuses the sale, the outlet passes. If the clerk/server completes the sale, the outlet fails the check. The checks were conducted between May 17 and May 30. Penalties for selling to a minor can include fines and license suspensions, and can potentially lead to license revocation. A server who sells to someone under 21 can also be charged …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Following the passage of the "Surly bill" last year, breweries can now sell their brews by the pint on-site.
Steel Toe Brewing in St. Louis Park could soon be selling its brews by the pint on-site if City Council gets behind the plan. Council is considering implementing a "taproom" ordinance, which would allow breweries to sell their own beers—and only their own beers—on the premises. Last year, Surly Brewing made a push at the legislature to allow just this. Before passage of the "Surly bill," Minnesota breweries couldn't sell pints on-site. Now, taprooms are popping up at Twin Cities locales such as Fulton Beer, Harriet Brewing and Lift Bridge Brewery. City councils have been behind the surge, as the cities of Stillwater, St. Paul and Minneapolis—among others—have passed taproom ordinances based on the new state law. On Monday, St. Louis Park …
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The St. Louis Park beer store can now sell merchandise because of a new state law.
After a lengthy legislative battle, Four Firkins T-shirts are now on sale in store for $14.99 each. Before the passing of an omnibus liquor bill last week, Minnesota liquor stores were not allowed to sell store-branded merchandise. During the 2011 session, Four Firkins owner Jason Alvey—with the help of local legislators Sen. Ron Latz and Rep. Steve Simon—challenged the law, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The new shirts read, "Your ancestors would be horrified and embarrassed to see you drink that domestic swill" on the front with, "The Four Firkins Specialty Beer Store" printed below. For Alvey, being able to sell T-shirts is something that has been a long time coming. Shortly after opening his store in 2008, he learned about the law …
Monday, April 30, 2012
A new law will allow the St. Louis Park beer store to sell branded merchandise.
In the wake of Gov. Mark Dayton signing the "Four Firkins bill," Four Firkins owner Jason Alvey said he hopes to have T-shirts on sale within a couple of weeks. The legislation, signed on Friday as part of the omnibus liquor bill, will allow liquor stores to sell store-branded T-shirts and other merchandise. Alvey said he plans to have a full line of gear for sale at his St. Louis Park beer store in the next month or two. This will include "men's and women's shirts, jackets, rugby jerseys, road bike jerseys, mountain bike jerseys, hats, beanies, Irish caps, socks, baby bibs, glassware, openers—everything we can think of. "It'll be a lot of fun," Alvey added. The Four Firkins bill first came forward during the 2011 session when Alvey …
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The legislation will allow liquor stores to sell T-shirts and other merchandise.
It's official—Jason Alvey can sell T-shirts. Alvey, the owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins, saw the "Four Firkins bill" receive Gov. Mark Dayton's signature Friday as part of a larger liquor omnibus package. The legislation will allow liquor stores to sell store-branded T-shirts and other merchandise. The Four Firkins bill first came forward during the 2011 session when Alvey approached Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) with his desire to sell store-branded gear. It was included in last year's House omnibus package, but didn’t make the cut in the Senate, ultimately killing the bill. After last year's failure, Simon said he was optimistic about his chances during the 2012 session…
Monday, November 21, 2011
Jason Alvey, owner of The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park, has spent much of 2011 working to change laws that affect his industry.
Friday’s decision by the Minneapolis City Council to allow bars, liquor stores and microbreweries to open closer to churches won’t immediately impact St. Louis Park business owner Jason Alvey, but Alvey was at the center of the issue nonetheless. The owner of craft beer store The Four Firkins was a strong proponent of the change, which abolishes an old ordinance that forbid businesses that sell alcohol from operating within 300 feet of places of worship. Alvey first testified at an earlier public hearing on the issue, then attended Friday’s council meeting when the final vote was made. “I did this out of principal—I’m pro-business,” said Alvey. "(Opening a business) shouldn't have anything to do with proximity to a church." That very …
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The legislation did not make it into the final liquor omnibus bill.
The push to allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, which has been championed by a St. Louis Park business owner, came up short this legislative session. "The Four Firkins bill" was not a part of the final liquor omnibus bill that passed in the House Thursday afternoon. Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins, said he was disappointed to see a bill that he worked so hard to get rolling not receive the support it needed. "It's very disappointing to see that people in such positions of power can completely misunderstand the issue at hand," Alvey said. The beer store owner brought the proposal to Sen. Ron Latz and Rep. Steve Simon earlier this year, and the St. Louis Park legislators …
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The next step will likely be a conference committee.
The Minnesota House on Tuesday afternoon passed its omnibus liquor bill, 127-5, which for now keeps the "Four Firkins bill" alive. That legislation would allow Minnesota liquor stores to sell store-branded merchandise, such as T-shirts. The House version of the bill was authored by St. Louis Park Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) earlier this year after he spoke with Jason Alvey, owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins. Alvey, who has said he simply wants to be able to better market his store by selling Four Firkins merchandise to loyal customers, was pleased by Tuesday's news. "It's good that it passed," he said. But the proposal is not yet law. A Senate version of the bill, authored by Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44…
Emily B
12:23 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Well, the state isn't involved at all, it's the city, though I understand that isn't exactly what you mean... To me, I think this is actually more of the the NIMBY issue. Folks in the burbs who don't want downtown Mpls migrating to their neighborhoods and people act like if we don't let in the bars then the activity will go away. Most commenters on related articles say "I don't want all that … more ›