Generally, the crowd at the Revolution Cafe at 3248 22nd St. spills out onto the sidewalk as customers sit in front sipping wine and beer as they watch the scene, but nowadays only coffee, tea and sodas are on tap.
The popular venue on the corner of Bartlett Avenue is in the midst of a ten day suspension of its liquor license that ends Friday May 14th, according to John Carr, the public relations officer for the state department of Alcohol Beverage Control, known as ABC.
The problem was that spilling over: Revolution’s front patio is not licensed for selling alcohol, according to Carr. The cafe is licensed to sell alcohol inside, but patrons are forbidden from enjoying alcohol on the patio and the suspension is the result of a citation.
The current suspension began May 4th, but the patio-related citation is from January 20th, 2009.
The café is scheduled to have its license suspended again, from June 4th to June 24th, for the same type of violation – this one on March 13th of last year, Carr said.
He explained that it takes almost a year for citations to turn into suspensions because of due process – meaning the establishment can appeal ABCs findings.
Why doesn’t Revolution café go ahead and get a license for their patio? The answer to that question is complicated. During the application process a lot of factors are taken into consideration such as the business’s proximity to schools or residences. And such factors vary from community to community.
The public has the opportunity to weigh in and give input on every application. ABC forwards a copy of each application to the police chief, the city planning department and the city council.
It’s unclear if Revolution plans to apply. The owner could not be reached for comment.