What should I have done = 51% sign

[KC5AV]

You can check the status of the establishment here, if you know a few bits of information:

http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/PublicInquiry/Status.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There should be an entry on the bottom right side of the results page that says Gun sign, and the color (red or blue).

[steveincowtown]

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

I think either the building is all 51% or it is not 51%. The only exception I can think of would be something like the Fort Worth Art Festival, where the stalls which sell alcohol are posted in an public area (I.e. on a public street). Don't even know how this one would work.

[TX0303]

Like other places I have seen, they just put up all the signs the TABC sends them in their packet. Ask the bartender where the TABC license is displayed, they must have it available for viewing. Check what color sign they are supposed to post. If they have a 51% diplayed but license says sign=blue, report them to the TABC.
I doubt there is any resturant that is a 51% location. The two "bars" I frequent in my town are both blue locations cause they also have a grill. I would bet money both places make 51% on alchohol.

[C-dub]

It would probably be a good idea now to check the TABC website to see if it really is a 51% location.

I was thinking the same thing. Jmace57, do you remember what color the "51%" watermark was? Red or Blue?

AEA, can the bar area be distinguished from the rest of the restaurant? A couple of places I go to pick up " to go" orders make me go to the bar area to either order or pick it up and pay. I have not seen a 51% sign there yet.

Possibly others are correct that it should be posted at the door if it is one business and at the bar if it is two businesses.

Dunno, I don't get out much.

What I do recall is that places that are restaurants that contain bars are fine to enter carrying as long as you do not go into the bar area which is usually in one end of the places or otherwise partitioned off with low walls or grills but possibly visible to all.

These usually have the 51% at the bar area, but you are still good if you are eating outside the bar area.

I don't get out that much either. I do get to a few Mexican restaurants and steak houses and most of these also have bar areas. However, I have a hard time understanding how they could separate the two, business wise. The receipts are the same. And, for the most part, there is no way I would ever believe any of these places could earn more than 51% of their sales from alcohol. Oh, BTW, the ones I do go to only have the "Unlicensed Possession" signs.

[Jasonw560]

I would bet the 51% is for the bar area only, Otherwise, the sign should have been posted at the front door.

[SwimFan85]

I don't get out that much either. I do get to a few Mexican restaurants and steak houses and most of these also have bar areas. However, I have a hard time understanding how they could separate the two, business wise. The receipts are the same.

Can you order bar drinks at the tables? If so, the tables are in the licensed area or the bar is also selling for off premises consumption.

[jmace57]

In this particular case, yes you could order drinks from the bar to be sent to your table.

[tomc]

Like other places I have seen, they just put up all the signs the TABC sends them in their packet.

I have found this to be the case too often. I have been in several places that were clearly NOT 51% places and could easily find a 51% sign. I have been in places that were clearly 51% places and could never find a sign or even find their liquor license to see if it was red or blue. I would use ones best judgment as to what to do if a 51% sign was found after ordering food. Just finish and leave would seem to be the best. Remember that it used to be illegal to carry in a 51% place whether they posted or not. Now it is a "defense to prosecution" if you don't see a sign.

[apostate]

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

Well... Texas Government Code 411.204 requires a 51% establishment to "prominently display at each entrance to the business premises a sign that complies with the requirements of Subsection (c)."

[kjolly]

Sounds like an innocent mistake, and by the time you noticed it was too late to do anything about it other than to assume you are concealed and concealed is concealed so leave quickly, which is what you did. Not all signs are posted in plain sight.

I think quite a few of us have been in this situation. Don't act nervous or fumble with your concealment. Smile and behave.

[johnson0317]

I agree. You must have been in posted red areas before you got your CHL, and you were never frisked before. Chances are pretty good you can turn around, lock it in your car, and go back in without getting busted.

RJ

[Llanero]

I had an experience like this recently too.

I went to a restaurant to pick up a to-go order. The order was wrong so I had to change it and a manager had to come and take the old order of out the register. She was obviously annoyed but was still being polite. A man was there with two big stacks of cash waiting for her. Apparently they were doing their cash deposit at that time. Anyway, I get the order changed and then I sit down to wait for it. I get bored and start looking around and bam! a red %51 sign. It was posted by the kitchen door but there was nothing at the entrance.

I felt I should leave immediately and go put my handgun in the car, but I didn't do that. Instead I decided to just wait for my order. So I waited, and waited, and waited. For some reason the order was taking a very long time and I was getting more and more paranoid. I started to wonder if I had been made and they were holding up the order to keep me there long enough for the police to arrive.

After a while the guy with the stacks of cash and the manager walked by going out to the parking lot. Then the manager came back in and looked at me. Now I am even more paranoid, I was mad at myself for not leaving when I had the chance. Then the manager asked me if I was still waiting on my order. I told her yea, I was still waiting. She went got my order, it was finished but no one had let know. Once she gave me my order, I got out of there as quickly as I could, I was relieved when I was finally driving away.

Later I checked the TACB website and they have the wrong sign up.

[johnson0317]

It sounded like one of those "wrong color sign" scenarios. I guess you could look at it a couple of different ways (if the sign had been correct). One was that you could have gone directly out to your car and left your gun there...probably what I would have done. The second is that you had already broken the law, so why not just wait for your food, which is what you did. If it had been a true red 51%, then I guess you can't break it just a little bit, it is broken. Your way of handling it seems as good as any except for it raises the odds you will be caught out. I am not dinging you one way or the other...you made a decision and it worked out. Then you had the good sense to check it out with TABC.

RJ

[RPB]

I had an experience like this recently too.

I went to a restaurant to pick up a to-go order. The order was wrong so I had to change it and a manager had to come and take the old order of out the register. She was obviously annoyed but was still being polite. A man was there with two big stacks of cash waiting for her. Apparently they were doing their cash deposit at that time. Anyway, I get the order changed and then I sit down to wait for it. I get bored and start looking around and bam! a red %51 sign. It was posted by the kitchen door but there was nothing at the entrance.

I felt I should leave immediately and go put my handgun in the car, but I didn't do that. Instead I decided to just wait for my order. So I waited, and waited, and waited. For some reason the order was taking a very long time and I was getting more and more paranoid. I started to wonder if I had been made and they were holding up the order to keep me there long enough for the police to arrive.

After a while the guy with the stacks of cash and the manager walked by going out to the parking lot. Then the manager came back in and looked at me. Now I am even more paranoid, I was mad at myself for not leaving when I had the chance. Then the manager asked me if I was still waiting on my order. I told her yea, I was still waiting. She went got my order, it was finished but no one had let know. Once she gave me my order, I got out of there as quickly as I could, I was relieved when I was finally driving away.

Later I checked the TACB website and they have the wrong sign up.

I hope you let the TABC know, so they can get that restaurant corrected.
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/contact_us/headquarters.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/contact_us/ ... office.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WE have to know and follow laws/regulations, THEY should too ... sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander/proper education etc

[The Annoyed Man]

Red or blue sign? It matters.