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johnson0317 wrote:If they sell alcohol, they are going to post a 51% sign, or they should. I was just at Chuy's, in Tyler, and we had to wait in the bar area. Now here is the deal, the bar area can be a red 51% and you can still eat at the restaurant. However, being in the bar area is a no-no. Since we had to wait there, I wandered over to the posted licenses and just boldly looked them over. I found the TABC license and duly noted it to be "Blue". No sweat. I would rather hunt down the dang sign and know if I am legal, than to guess at it and maybe take a ride.

RJ

Tell me more about this notion. HOW can a restaurant bar be correctly posted 51% while the restaurant is not a 51% location (barring the scenario I described where the two are independently licensed TABC entities)?

"If they sell alcohol, they are going to post a 51% sign, or they should." I don't understand this. Lots of places sell alcohol and are not 51% and do not have a 51% sign, so it's not illegal to carry while in that area. What part of the penal code makes a non-51% location illegal to carry if you are in the bar area? Remember, the mere selling of alcohol for on-site consumption does not make it illegal to carry. The *business to whom the license is issued* must derive 51% or more of their revenue from the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption. As an example, the Lion and Rose pub has a bar area, but the establishment is not 51%. They are "blue" according to TABC. So can't one sit at the bar? Notice I didn't say *drink* (alcohol) at the bar.

Mind you, I am not asking about the sensibility of it, whether it's a good idea or not. I'm asking about the legality of it.

C-dub wrote:

RiverCity.45 wrote: More likely, the owners got the standard kit of signs from TABC and mistakenly posted the 51% sign in the bar area because they do not understand the rules. I have seen this before (e.g., Hofbrau in San Antonio)

It's not exactly a mistake to place it in the bar area just like there doesn't have to be a 30.06 sign at every entrance or even at the entrance. It's nice when it is, but it doesn't have to be.

Except I am refering to the times when it is a mistake, as in the entity is not actually a 51% location, but has a bar. When they are a 51% location, I agree, it isn't a mistake, but an inconvenience.

So I'm curious about this notion that a 51% sign only applies to a bar portion of a restaurant. My understanding is that liquor licenses are issued to entities, not portions of entities. I suppose it's possibe to spin off the bar portion as a separate legal entity, but I suspect that is unlikely in a restaurant situation.

More likely, the owners got the standard kit of signs from TABC and mistakenly posted the 51% sign in the bar area because they do not understand the rules. I have seen this before (e.g., Hofbrau in San Antonio)

Two ways to resolve this: ask TABC to investigate or use their online verification feature. To exclude the possibility that the bar is separately licensed under a different name, use the search by address.

I am not a TABC employee, so I could be wrong, of course.