On the night of Sept. 8, Officer John Collins, beer inspector for the Chattanooga Police Department, organized a compliance check that included the CPD, Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Hamilton County Coalition. That night the unannounced visits to businesses that sell beer took place in the Lookout Valley area. Nine businesses were tested that night and the violation of selling beer to a minor took place one after another. Out of the nine, four sold beer to the same 18-year-old undercover buyer - two restaurants and two convenience stores.
"More than likely they have been selling to minors before then," said Beer Board member Christopher Keene. “Tiftonia and Lookout Valley deserves better than this,” he said. “I’m upset with the whole valley.”
Shiva Food Mart, 303 Browns Ferry Road, was the first. At around 7 p.m. The underage buyer took a Twisted Tea to the register and the clerk did not ask for an ID. At the beer board meeting on Thursday morning, the manager said he had stepped away from the register for a few minutes and his wife, who is not a paid employee of the store, took his place and she made the sale. This is the first time in his 14 years of managing convenience stores that this has happened, he told the beer board, and apologized saying, “I feel guilty.” The store was given a three-day suspension of their beer license that will begin on Sept. 23, and all employees that operate the register will be required to get city certified training in alcohol sales within 30 days.
At 7:20 p.m. that night, the undercover buyer took an alcoholic beverage to the counter at Mapco Express, 201 Browns Ferry Road, and this time the clerk did ask for an ID, but made the sale anyway. Police were given two different answers. The store clerk told the police he had misread the year ’89 for ’93. The buyer told police that the clerk said, “You’re a working man, you’re OK.”
Drey Tipton, a district manager for Mapco, told the board of Mapco’s policy regarding alcohol sales which is to test all employees at least once a year. A person is terminated on the spot for making a sale to a minor, and if that happens, every team member will be retested, he said. His job includes reviewing video of the sales where employees verbally ask the customer for their birthday, and the recording verifies the age at the register. “We made a mistake” that night, said Mr. Tipton.
Because this store is in the Responsible Vendor Program, an alcohol awareness training program from the state of Tennessee, the penalty of up to $1,000 is the maximum fine allowed, and that was imposed. Additionally, all employees will be required to be trained in beer sales through the program that the city offers.
At 8 p.m. on Sept. 8, Fireside Grille, a sports bar/restaurant located at 3018 Cummings Highway, served the underage customer a draft beer. The server who has a TABC server’s card told the officers that she had looked at the date wrong. Officer Collins noted that the license of an underage driver has a vertical format and a red border, making it difficult to mistake.
“There’s not much more to say," said the owner of Fireside Grill. It is not an excuse, but what is going on. We were understaffed that night with only one of the two servers at work.
The penalty for the violation could not be made at Thursday’s meeting due to confusion about the business having a valid beer permit. The restaurant changed ownership five years ago, and the treasurer’s office cannot find verification that the license was changed to the new owner. The owner has misplaced the printed certificate. Food and alcohol sales will be allowed, but no beer until verification can be provided that there is a valid beer permit. The issue was passed to the next beer board meeting.
Odells on the Go, 3031 Cummings Highway, made an underage sale at 8:15 p.m. The sales clerk, despite having a TABC license from the state, did not check the ID before making the sale of a Twisted Tea. The store was given a three-day suspension of its beer license that will start in one week with an option to pay a fine of $1,500. All employees will also be required to go to the city’s training for beer sales.
Good Dog, 34 Frazier Ave., was approved for a consumer beer permit at the beer board meeting. The restaurant, which is part of special operations for See Rock City, Inc. has not yet opened, waiting for the building inspector to approve a certificate of occupancy that has already been issued. The restaurant has also had a problem with staffing, said Susan Harris, president and CEO, but it is expected to open the first week of October.
Wanderlinger Brewing Co., 1208 King St., already holds a consumer, carryout and distributors beer license for their taproom, restaurant and brewery. On Thursday, they also received a caterer’s license that will allow them to cater off-site. Mikael Dial, on behalf of the business, said at events, they will ID everybody, just as they do in the taproom. He said he is aware that they will “have to have eyes on the crowd.” to prevent minors from being served at large events.
Janta Farmers Market, 6500 Lee Highway, was given a carry-out beer permit. This is an Indian grocery store, similarly sized to a Food City, the board was told.
Uptown Reload, 2407 Glass St., was approved for a consumer beer license. The sports bar targeted for an over 40 crowd, has an occupancy of 99 people. Owner Charles Smith was warned to be careful with the noise and parking lot and to be a good neighbor because it is close to a residential neighborhood. He was also made aware that another business previously in the location had problems with violence and gambling.
Naked River Brewing Co. at 1791 Reggie White Blvd. has been open about a year and a half, and already has a consumer, carry out and distributors license. Because they want to add a catering license to do off site events, the nearly new building will need to be reinspected by the city building inspector. Owner Robert Raulston told the board he has called the building inspector many times and has received no reply. He wants to be able to provide beer at a cornhole tournament on Sept. 25 using the caterer license. That event is before the next beer board meeting. The board agreed to have a special meeting after the new building inspection has been done to be able to issue a catering license prior to the special event.
Three special events permits were approved on Thursday at the beer board meeting. The 3 Sisters Festival will be held at Ross’s Landing for the 14th year. Carla Pritchard with Chattanooga Presents said that health safety protocols that were followed during the Nightfall concerts this year will be used. This is a free event on Friday, Oct. 1, from 6-11:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 2, from 12 to 10:30 p.m.
Oddstory Brewing Co. will have an Octoberfest on Sept. 18 in their parking lot at 336 E. M.L. King Blvd. The parking lot is adjacent to their building and will be completely fenced in, with one entrance and exit. Their taproom will operate as usual that day.
The Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee will be having the “Big Pig BBQ Contest” on Sept. 25 from 12-8 p.m. It will be in the completely fenced parking lot at 401 E. Main St. The family event will be for 230 construction companies. This is the second year for the cooking contest that will support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chattanooga. There are expected to be about 300 attending. It is open and free to the public but $12 to get a wristband and for food tasting.