Restaurants are facing liquor license problems
By Greg Paeth Post staff reporter The principal behind the proposed Jump 05 restaurant and nightclub in Covington is facing liquor license problems for some of his restaurants in Ohio and Kentucky.
The most recent problem to emerge for Vincent Bryant and his Queen City Restaurant Group is Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control action against Donna's Diner at 313-15 Greenup St. in Covington for failure to pay state taxes.
Stephen Humphress, general counsel for the liquor agency, said he intends to start proceedings against the Queen City Restaurant Group this week, a process that could lead to revoking the three liquor licenses held by the restaurant and bar.
A report from the ABC enforcement division says Queen City and the Covington Venture LLC, who hold the Donna's Diner licenses, owe the state $43,064 in state withholding, use and sales taxes for a period dating to December 2004.
"This could lead to a revocation - which would be the death knell for the license holder - a suspension or a fine," Humphress said. "Historically, the board has shown little patience for people who don't pay their taxes. If you don't pay your taxes, we don't want you as a licensee in Kentucky."
Last year, a proposal that would have allowed Jump 05 to serve alcoholic beverages until 4 a.m. created controversy in City Hall and in the neighborhood where the Jump buildings and Donna's Diner are located. The Licking-Riverside Civic Association went on record against the proposal, as did other residents and business owners.
Jump developers eventually withdrew the 4 a.m. license request but said they planned to move ahead with the nightclub and restaurant.
The action against Donna's Diner mirrors actions taken against two of the other three Queen City Restaurant Group restaurants in Ohio by liquor control agencies.
Watson Brothers Bistro & Brewery in Blue Ash has lost its three liquor licenses
- including the one that allowed it to brew beer - for failing to pay Ohio sales tax. It isn't eligible to have those licenses renewed until June 23.
Watson's remains in operation as a restaurant but is prohibited from serving any alcoholic beverages, said Matt Mullins, a spokesman for the Division of Liquor Control of the Ohio Department of Commerce.
The state declined to renew the licenses because Watson Brothers owed $16,551 in workers' compensation and unemployment compensation taxes, said Mark Anderson, executive director of the Ohio Liquor Control Commission.
The Blue Ash restaurant and bar quit serving alcohol Dec. 13, an employee said.
Bryant is one of the two founders of the 12-year-old Queen City Restaurant Group, where he's one of the top executives, as well as the managing partner for real estate for the Lantrust Real Estate Group, whose projects include the Michigan Terrace condominiums under construction on Hyde Park Square.
Lantrust Real Estate is part of Lantrust Securities, where Bryant also is one of the principals. The restaurant group and the two Lantrust companies share a suite at 3805 Edwards Rd. in Cincinnati.
Bryant would not comment on the liquor license issues.
Mullins and Anderson said Blue Ash Bistro has appealed the rejection. No hearing date has been set yet.
Teller's of Hyde Park is operating under a temporary order that allows it to serve alcohol until the end of the month. But the restaurant could lose its liquor license Feb. 28 if Queen City doesn't pay all or a substantial part of a sales tax claim of $11,555.
The state directed Teller's to quit serving alcoholic beverages as of Dec. 30, but Teller's has received two month-to-month extensions on that order from the Ohio Attorney General's Office division of enforcement and corrections. "That usually means that they are making satisfactory progress on paying the taxes," Anderson said.
The second extension expires Feb. 28. Anderson said he has received no information from the Attorney General's office on whether another extension will be granted.
Publication date: 02-13-2006