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A Kelowna pizza restaurant avoided a penalty of between $7,000 and $11,000 for allegedly operating outside of its licence.
According to a decision posted by the provincial Liquor And Cannabis Regulation Branch, the issue arose after two liquor inspectors visited DunnEnzies Pizza in the Lower Mission during a DJ show in October 2023.
The decision explains that the restaurant has a food primary liquor licence, which allows liquor to be sold or served but it must be done in the service of food.
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On Oct. 14, 2023, the two inspectors entered DunnEnzies at about 11:45 pm and stayed for 10 minutes.
During that time, the inspectors allege that DunnEnzies was operating outside of their licence during the event, citing a too many people dancing in front of a stage.
The inspectors said there were 25 to 30 people in the restaurant with “maybe 6 to 10 people dancing.”
One of the inspectors asked the host if they could speak with the person on duty that night, which was a bartender. The bartender then spoke with the DJ and asked him to announce that people had to stop dancing for the last song.
Additionally, one of the liquor inspectors said he noticed “no menus, no remnants of food, no cutlery, no indication that food was being served” and many empty glasses on tables.
However, the bartender said there was no food on the tables because staff had just made the last call and staff were clearing tables because the restaurant closed in 15 minutes.
“The two liquor inspectors reviewed the food primary licence and confirmed that there was no patron participation endorsement under the terms and conditions on the licence,” says the decision from the branch.
A patron participation endorsement on a liquor licence allows for dancing and other patron-involved activities like karaoke or stand up shows.
According to the decision, sales receipts indicated a shift from food service to liquor service over the period from 8 pm until midnight that night, particularly between 10 pm and midnight.
However, the representative for the liquor branch said this wasn’t necessarily a breach of the liquor licence.
“In these two hours, the restaurant sold $108.51 of food and $1,212.00 of liquor. From 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, the restaurant sold $459.00 of food and $1,194.06 of liquor. I find that there was a shift from eating to drinking as the evening wore on, but that food was still being served and available,” said the general manager’s delegate, Nerys Poole.
“If a restaurant stays open until midnight and patrons have eaten a meal earlier in the evening, I find that consumption of liquor is much more likely than consumption of food during the later hours. If there was evidence of no food being served, no kitchen staff on hand, no kitchen open, no menus being available, I would find that the financial records would support a conclusion that the restaurant has shifted to being more like a bar. I do not make that conclusion on the facts here.
The owners of DunnEnzies denied moving tables to create a dance floor and that the late night sales are usually just a slice of pizza so it is “not uncommon to have the higher percentage of liquor at this time. People have eaten and are choosing to order more drinks at that point.”
Poole concluded that the evidence submitted by the liquor inspectors doesn’t establish contravention and declined to issue a penalty.
Poole also noted that the licensee made it known in their evidence that they have applied for a patron participation endorsement for its food primary licence, however, Poole advised the licensee to continue operating within their food primary licence until the endorsement was granted.
The owners of DunnEnzies Pizza Co. are looking for patron participation endorsement for the food primary licenses at both the downtown and Lower Mission locations with applications submitted in mid-March and in April, respectively.
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