The Washington State Liquor Board (WSLCB) is working to shut down a Wallingford nightclub for dancing around the state's liquor regulations.
On November 18th, the WSLCB sent a letter to the owners of the Babalu Mambo Loungeâlocated at 1723 N 45th Stâinforming them that the state was pulling their liquor license for failing âto act as a bonafide restaurant.â
State liquor laws require all barsâwhich are technically licensed as restaurantsâto prepare and serve full meals to customers for several hours a day.
According to documents provided by the city attorneyâs officeâwhich filed an objection to Babaluâs liquor license renewal last AprilâBabaluâs menu at one point consisted of five â1950âs TV Dinners,â including The Babalu Chicken Pot Pie, Lucy Light Fish Fillets, the Desi Arnaz Hungry Man, the Fred Mertz Salisbury Steak and Ricky Ricardo Spaghetti & Meatballs, all priced at a whopping $99.95 each. State law requires bars and clubs to have a kitchen and a cook on staff, who actually prepares food on site.
Along with the overpriced menu items, the city attorneyâs office has also cited several other reasons for objecting to Babalu's license renewal. The city's letter to the WSLCB also notes complaints from neighbors about the clubâs noisy and sometimes violent crowds, and a 2007 citation by the city for failing to attain the proper zoning permits for the bar, which is smack in the middle of a relatively quiet residential neighborhood.
Babaluâs owners have appealed the WSLCBâs decisionâthe barâs management could not be reached for commentâand the case will have a hearing some time this summer.
Babalu certainly isnât the first bar to skirt the stateâs food requirement laws. I wonât name names, but I can think of at least two or three bars I regularly frequent that donât have anything resembling a kitchen, and I know of at least two other bars that have also had outrageously priced microwaved food on their menus, presumably in order to satisfy the stateâs liquor law requirements.
As I wrote last month, a bill working its way through the state legislature could soon create a special nightclub license, which would allow bars to forgo food service requirements and stay out of sticky situations like the one Babalu is currently in.