West 7th cocktail bar’s liquor license shelved; state cites social distance violations
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Monday issued an emergency order suspending the liquor license held by a Fort Worth cocktail bar that the agency alleged had failed to observe social distancing regulations and whose staff and customers it said it found were not wearing face coverings.
The license held by Ampersand, on Bledsoe Street on the western edge of the West 7th Street corridor, was suspended for 30 days. The business, which also operates a coffee shop, opened in November 2017.
The order suggests that TABC inspected Ampersand on Saturday.
Ampersand’s management described its current protocol in a statement.
The procedure “includes required temperature checks and masks for all employees and guests. Our tables are spaced 6 feet apart and we have multiple sanitizing stations. Social distancing is enforced. We have a professional cleaning crew that provides deep cleaning daily.”
TABC said on Tuesday that it had issued similar suspensions at five other bars. Four are in Houston, and one is in Dallas.
Commission agents inspected businesses across the state to evaluate whether they were following state standards to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The requirements include indoor customer capacity limits of 50% at bars and 75% at restaurants and social distancing of at least 6 feet between groups of customers.
Agents conducted 1,344 inspections in the last week, TABC said.
“These violations represent a very small number of the more than 20,000 licensed businesses inspected by TABC since the beginning of May,” TABC Chairman Kevin Lilly wrote in a statement. “A large majority of business owners are showing their commitment to keeping customers and employees safe, and we’re grateful for all of their hard work.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 5:07 PM.
