October 24, 2009|By Brent Jones | Brent Jones,brent.jones@baltsun.com
The city liquor board suspended the liquor license of a restaurant in Mount Vernon's historic Belvedere Hotel for 60 days on Thursday night after the bar was found guilty of serving customers after hours twice in an eight-month span.
Red Square, located in the first block of E. Chase St., was also fined $2,250 for allowing patrons to drink after 2 a.m. and not serving food with the alcohol, according to the chairman of the liquor board. But charges that the restaurant had violated an agreement with the Mount Vernon community, which could have led to a revocation of its license, were dismissed.
Liquor board commissioners say they voted unanimously to suspend the license because the bar had been warned numerous times to close by 2 a.m.
Liquor inspectors testified during the 90-minute hearing that the licensee was serving National Bohemian beer during the early morning hours of July 11.
The kitchen was closed at that time, a violation of the restaurant's zoning designation, which requires both food and alcohol to be sold when the establishment is open.
Last year, the restaurant was fined $500 for the same offense.
"For you to be open at 2, 3 o'clock, you're cognizant but just refuse to comply to the law. It's egregious," said liquor board commissioner Elizabeth C. Smith. "They were following their own laws."
Red Square is the second restaurant in the Belvedere to come before the liquor board within the past year. Liquor board commissioners attempted to revoke the license of Suite Ultralounge, a troubled nightclub in the basement of the hotel, but the bottle club remains open after a judge overturned the board's decision. Police are attempting to padlock the club.
The Owl Bar and The 13th Floor are also located in the Belvedere.
