Alamo Drafthouse?

[moriar]

Alamo Drafthouse near where I live currently has the "Unlicensed possession of a weapon [etc]" sign on their door, same as what you'd see at the Corner Store selling alcohol for off-site consumption.

They are a theater that sells alcohol for on-site consumption, but they do a brisk buisness with the other things such as popcorn and tickets.

I'm hoping that the signage means that while they sell alcohol, they are below the 51% rule.

Is that possible, or would a less-that-51% 'bar' simply not post any sign?

[Kalrog]

The sign you are seeing is the one for "bars" and other places that serve alcohol but do not earn 51% of their revenue from that sale, or places that sell for off site consumption (like a liquor store). Carry all you want there - I do. Usually at the Lake Creek location (closest to my house), but also occasionally at the Village location.

[Suckhow]

Use extreme caution here...

I happen to own some restaurant/bars in Houston many of you have probably heard of.

Alamo Draft house derives a substantion percentage of their revenue from the on premise sale of alcoholic beverages. Sometimes their number get very close to or even exceed 50%.

One of their units ranks in the top 50 in total mixed beverage reciepts in the Houston Metro area at times,

[Charles L. Cotton]

Use extreme caution here...

I happen to own some restaurant/bars in Houston many of you have probably heard of.

Alamo Draft house derives a substantion percentage of their revenue from the on premise sale of alcoholic beverages. Sometimes their number get very close to or even exceed 50%.

One of their units ranks in the top 50 in total mixed beverage reciepts in the Houston Metro area at times,

This is good advice. In 1996, when then Harris County DA Johnny Holmes reversed his long-standing opposition to CHL, he testified during an interim study on implementation of SB 60. He testified that the Penal Code should be changed such that the failure to post a 51% sign would be a defense to prosecution for carrying in a 51% establishment. Then as now, the failure to have a sign is not a recognized defense. There would be an argument that you didn't have the required mental state (mens rea), because you didn't know it was a 51% location, but I wouldn't want to bet my future on that argument!

Regards,
Chas.

[Kalrog]

Of the Draft Houses that I go to - I would be hard pressed to believe that 51% of their revenue comes from alcohol sales. Just looking around at the patrons and knowing that each person in there would have to have 2 drinks just to equal the cost of admission, plus the fact that almost everyone orders food and not everyone orders alcohol... I would wager that the "average" person would have to have 5+ drinks during the course of the movie to exceede the 50% mark and that just isn't happening. Not even close.

Other locations might be (and probably are) different.

[NcongruNt]

I went to a movie at the Alamo Dafthouse Lake Creek location this past Saturday, and noticed two 30.06 notices taped to either end of the Ticket booth. They are printed on 8.5x11 pieces of paper and clearly not compliant. As I was on a date with my girlfriend, I did go ahead and see the movie, though I will go elsewhere in the future. As there have been reports of 30.06 signs at lots of Alamo Drafthouse locations with signs posted in a similar manner, my guess would be that this is a centrally-pushed policy. I will be writing a letter within the next several days to the ownership/management of the Alamo Drafthouse, expressing my concern and disappointment, informing them of my decision to no longer patronize their establishments as long as they decide to keep a policy to render their patrons unable to defend themselves against imminent harm. Here is a picture of one of the signs:

[Kalrog]

That is new. I have a friend that works at that location and I will have to ask her when they were installed.

[phddan]

How is the 51% of sales figured?
Is it averaged over a year, monthly, weekly??
If they happen to have a record day of sales, but not normally above 51%, does that justify posting?

Dann

[frankie_the_yankee]

How is the 51% of sales figured?
Is it averaged over a year, monthly, weekly??
If they happen to have a record day of sales, but not normally above 51%, does that justify posting?

Dann

In this case, it doesn't matter. They didn't post a 51% sign, they posted 30.06 signs.

Any place can post 30.06 signs, for any reason or for no reason at all.

You can't miss a 51% sign. It has "51%" watermarked over the text in very large print.

Now it appears that the 30.06 signs posted in the picture are technically not compliant with the law, but that is another matter.

[CWOOD]

Our good friend and poster here, srothstein, who works for TABC gave us an excellent way to answer this question. This was during a discussion about a month ago about how to tell if a place was 51% or not.

His excellent and practical advice was to look at the TABC license at the establishment in question. This license is required to be posted in a place visible to the public.

Look in the center of the license and you will see one of the following designations"
SIGN=RED or SIGN=BLUE

SIGN=RED means it is a 51% establishment

SIGN=BLUE means it is not a 51% establishment

If in doubt, disarm before you check the license. That way you will be covered if it reads 'red' and can go ahead and re-arm if it is 'blue'.

Thanks a lot to srothstein for this helpful tip.

[GrillKing]

We went to the Alamo Draft House at Anderson lane in Austin a couple of weeks ago. I looked, no 30.06 posted, at least not obvious. I would also be hard pressed to believe that 51% of revenue is derived from alcohol sales. 2 tickets plus meals w/o alcohol was $68.

Don't take my word for it, carry at your own risk, but that was my observation. BTW, I wasn't sure so I left the carry piece at home....

[Bob Wolff]

My son is an assistant kitchen manger/chef at one of their locations.
Caution is the correct response.
They show certain movies, such as their Thursday night Troma Fest, where their is no admission charged to see the movie. The only revenue generated is from alchol/food sales.

Bob

[pbandjelly]

I went to a movie at the Alamo Dafthouse Lake Creek location this past Saturday, and noticed two 30.06 notices taped to either end of the Ticket booth.

you didn't go into the ticket boothes, didja??

Now it appears that the 30.06 signs posted in the picture are technically not compliant with the law, but that is another matter.

How do you figure that? I don't see ye ol' measuring stick...

[phddan]

How is the 51% of sales figured?
Is it averaged over a year, monthly, weekly??
If they happen to have a record day of sales, but not normally above 51%, does that justify posting?

Dann

In this case, it doesn't matter. They didn't post a 51% sign, they posted 30.06 signs.

Any place can post 30.06 signs, for any reason or for no reason at all.

You can't miss a 51% sign. It has "51%" watermarked over the text in very large print.

Now it appears that the 30.06 signs posted in the picture are technically not compliant with the law, but that is another matter.

I understand that in this case it doesn't matter. And I understand about the 30.06 signs.
What I don't understand is how they figure when the 51% threshold is met.

Dan

[ELB]

[quote="pbandjelly

Now it appears that the 30.06 signs posted in the picture are technically not compliant with the law, but that is another matter.

How do you figure that? I don't see ye ol' measuring stick...

The letters must be at least one inch tall. That makes the overall size of a legally compliant sign pretty big, several times the size of an 8.5"x11" piece of paper. The sign in the picture ain't nowhere that big. My CHL instructor was pretty emphatic that it must be at least of the minimum size (or the warning must be verbal) before it had real legal effect.

In any case, I would avoid spending money there, and who knows, a polite complaint letter might do some good.

As to the 51% sign, it does appear to me that the law says you may not carry in such a place, and it is not required to give you effective notice, i.e. if it fails to post a sign you are still barred from carrying there. But that's just my reading, go ask your lawyer about that.

elb