BROOKINGS LaCantina Restaurant has been given a second chance at renewing its liquor license for 2025 following a 6-0 vote of support from the Brookings City Council but it comes at the cost of half-price margaritas going away on Thursdays.
Tuesday nights decision came in the wake of testimony from Lance Park, the longtime holder of the on-sale convention liquor license and owner of the Brookings Inn at 2500 Sixth St. The restaurant is inside the hotel. City Councilor Nick Wendell did not vote, as he was absent. The reconsideration vote, at 6-0, was almost a reversal of the councils 6-1 vote on Nov. 26 against renewing the liquor license.
Thank you, council members, for giving me this opportunity to address you, Park said. Im sorry for the issues that LaCantina has caused the city. It was not our intention to sell to underage patrons.
Since 2022, the restaurant has faced multiple alcohol compliance check violations. It did, however, pass a compliance check that took place earlier this year in September.
Park then listed changes that LaCantina is undertaking to prevent future alcohol violations, including replacing the half-price margarita special on Thursdays with a food item instead.
Its our hope that will still bring customers in, but the feature will be a food item rather than a drink special, Park noted.
Other changes he drew attention to were:
- On LaCantinas busiest evenings Wednesdays through Saturdays the restaurant will have two hosts at the door; one carding, the other seating customers as they enter. Those identified at the door will be hand-stamped to help servers know who has met the age requirements.
- On the less busy nights, Park said customers ordering alcoholic beverages will be scanned at their table.
- He added that the number of scanners have been increased from two to four, with an additional two scanners on the way. Thats a total of six scanners, enough for each team member on a shift to have a scanner with them.
- In the bar area, signs will be posted stating that patrons must be 21 to enter, all customers will be carded, and those 21 and over will receive either an armband or a hand stamp.
- Park noted that, as part of the facilitys policy, all waitstaff has gone through alcohol training, and that the staff meetings prior to each opening include reminders to team members to be vigilant for underage drinking.
- He said the consequences of a staffer serving an underage drinker will be the loss of the staffers job, a consequence that would also extend to include the manager overseeing that staffer.
Park said he has owned the Brookings Inn since 1998. Ten years ago, he invested $5 million into the hotel, remodeling it and building one of the largest waterparks in eastern South Dakota.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and it killed the hospitality industry, Park said, forcing him to close the restaurant that was in the hotel at that time. Later, he said, Aranda came to him with an offer to reopen the restaurant and bar and to operate it for Park.
LaCantina has been in Brookings now for five years and theyve been very successful, Park said. Customers enjoy the food and the atmosphere. I feel that its important to know the local community appreciates Brookings having multiple dining options which people can choose.
At this point, Park also inquired of the council if its concerns were with him as the license holder, or with Aranda, with whom Park has an operating agreement with.
Ive been a business owner in Brookings for 52 years, Park said. I know as a community we all share the goal of growing Brookings and increasing the number of individuals that visit our city. The Brookings Inn is vital to having enough hotel rooms to be able to host major events, and its one of the only event centers in town that can accommodate large group events.
Questions, assurances
Councilors had questions for Park after his testimony along with assurances and support.
One of them was Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne, who wondered if the alcohol license was just for the restaurant, or for the entire convention center. Park said the entire facility restaurant and convention center alike operates under the license.
She also noted Parks question regarding the focus of the councils concern whether it was Park or Aranda saying that it was neither. Rather, the focus is on serving alcohol to underage individuals.
Thats what we as a council are hoping to avoid, and so I would just caution that any further violations in the future would certainly be cause for us as a council to, again, take a really hard look at the permit that we would be issuing to you and really considering whether or not thats something wed continue to do going forward.
In the end, Tilton Byrne was reassured by the latest developments.
Based on what we heard, I feel more comfortable and more confident allowing the alcohol permit to move forward than I did at the last meeting, she concluded.
Councilor Bonny Specker spoke next, pointing out the importance letting the City Council know what changes a business is pursuing when it comes to alcohol violations especially so when multiple violations have occurred and no one has shown up to represent the business and tell councilors what preventative changes are taking place.
That said, she supports LaCantina.
Im sure a lot of people will be unhappy about the half-price margaritas going away, but the food part is nice, Specker said, laughing slightly. I just wanted to thank you for coming, and I dont think its anything against the current manager at all. I think he did a pretty good job I think we were just asking him a lot of hard questions that did get him quite nervous.
Councilor Wayne Avery closed out the questioning.
None of us came (two weeks ago) expecting to deny that license we were just looking for a little bit more, and youve provided that tonight, he noted. Youve reassured us that things are going to happen, and we appreciate it. That was the last thing we wanted to do was to close a business down or infringe on a businesss ability to make a profit.
The citys new recommendation to approve the on-sale convention liquor license for Park Hospitality now goes to the South Dakota Department of Revenue for a final decision.
In something of an unexpected twist, the state agency said it had no record of LaCantinas 2022 violations, according to a memo from the city. This, despite city staff having records of submitting the violations the state. Practically speaking, this means when the state makes its final decision on the license, it will be based on having two compliance check violations within a 24-month period, rather than the three that the city has on its records.
Also at Tuesday nights meeting, councilors:
- Approved, on a 6-0 vote, giving the road within Pioneer Park a name; specifically, MLK Jr. Way. The outcome marks the end of a process initiated by Thomas Reynolds, a South Dakota State University student, that has been underway since 2022. SDSU faculty member Jay Molock was also involved.
- Gave the green light, again on a 6-0 vote, to a development agreement with Solventum. It will help facilitate the companys $220 million expansion in Brookings, outlining project details, obligations, tax increment financing provisions and performance expectations.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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