OH: Bars are not using their late night liquor licenses for the RNC

Newsnet5
By Megan Hickey
July 20, 2016
Despite applying for waivers with the Ohio Department of Commerce, many downtown and area bars say they’re not using their licenses to serve liquor until 4 a.m. during the RNC.

About 229 bars were approved for Certificates of Waiver with the state of Ohio for the Convention, expected big business to boom late into the night.

“We applied for the 4 a.m. license, we got it, we closed at 1am o’clock,” said David Steele, Co-owner of the Flat Iron Cafe.

Steele said his bar, one of the oldest in Cleveland, will still make more then they usually would for the week, but late night traffic has been disappointing.

“The business just wasn’t there,” he said. ’It wasn’t worth staying open.”

Other restaurants and bars in the Flats and E. 9th street told newsnet5.com that the RNC was actually hurting business.

Tomo Restaurant Owner Vlimir Lucic that the heightened security has actually kept his regular customers from coming downtown.

“A lot of my customers are calling me ‘How can I get there?’” Lucia said. “I cannot get my regular customers here.”

Lucic said he’s going to have to throw away or donate all the extra food and beer that he ordered for this week.

Outside of Cleveland, some bars in Lakewood are seeing late night traffic. But servers at Around the Corner Saloon and Cafe said it’s mostly regulars taking advantage of the longer hours.

“They got really really busy around 2:30 but it didn’t seem like any part of the convention or anything,” said food runner Emma Ribar.

Cleveland residents looking for a party Tuesday night said they were shocked by how few people were out around the convention.

“It’s usually a little busier than this, there’s actually nobody out,” said downtown resident Tim Vierengle.

Bars and restaurants on E. 4th had a steady flow of traffic, but many businesses outside the event zone pointed out that they were told everyone would benefit.