Two new restaurants will soon be opening on Chattanooga’s North Shore. At the meeting of Chattanooga’s Beer and Wrecker Board on Thursday, Poblanos Mexican Bar & Grill and Totto Sushi & Grill were issued beer licenses.
Poblanos is located at 551 River St., the previous location of Pisa Pizza. Stephen Hyde, owner of the new restaurant, told the beer board that he plans on having a “soft opening” this coming Monday with only invited guests and, if that goes smoothly, will open to the public Tuesday or Wednesday.
Officer John Collins said that fire, health and building inspections had all been passed. Mr. Hyde told the board that he had read the beer codes all the way through twice, and that he understood them. The motion to grant a permit for this business was unanimously approved.
Totto Sushi & Grill is also getting ready to open its doors. This restaurant has passed the building and fire inspections and the health inspection on the condition that a new garage door be kept locked. The owner, Eunjoo Park Kal, said that the door had been added for ease of serving an outside area of the restaurant. She was unaware that the health code requires that a kitchen must be completely enclosed. Hamilton County health inspector Lowe Wilkins agreed to issue a permit with the stipulation that the door stay locked until alterations are made to comply with the code. Based on that condition the beer license was issued.
Crust Pizza at 3211 South Broad St. has a new owner, Paul Sutter. He told the board that he had worked at the business before becoming the new owner. The restaurant’s beer license had recently been suspended for serving alcohol to a minor and Mr. Sutter, being familiar with that situation, said he had taken the TIP class (Training for Intervention Procedures) in order to train his employees for the responsible service, sale and consumption of alcohol. The board recommended the class for all servers, and approved a new license for the restaurant.
Ziggy’s Package Store at 607 Cherokee Blvd., represented by Wanda Fay Cagle, and Ziggy’s Bar & Grill, 607 B Cherokee Blvd., represented by Michael Wood, both have both passed all the necessary inspections and were issued beer permits for carry-out and consumer sales of beer.
A fundraiser for North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy will be held May 12 from 2-9 p.m. at Renaissance Park. The event “Beer Over Dirt” will benefit the organization. Wrist bands will be issued for a minimum donation to allow for complementary beer. Gregory Vickrey, director of the conservancy, assured the beer board members that off-duty police officers will be present and that the taps will be operated by employees of each brewery. A special event license was given for the occasion.
Two businesses facing serious consequences for violations of their beer permits were given more time to prepare for their defense. Attorney Arvin Reingold, representing Southern Comfort at 511 Broad St., was unable to be present, leaving owner Mark Chitwood without representation. The board allowed the hearing to be postponed for a second time until the next meeting of the board on May 17. If Mr. Reingold is unable to be at that meeting, it was suggested that Mr. Chitwood retain another lawyer.
The Chattanooga Police Department’s main witness for a disorder at Skully’s at 3001 Rossville Blvd. was unable to attend the Thursday meeting. The witness (victim) is being treated for various injuries and could not appear. The hearing before the beer board for violations that occurred on March 29 will be postponed until the meeting on June 7.