Magnolia restaurant approved for beer, wine permit; Stars Cinema rejected

One of Magnolia’s newest Mexican restaurants has been approved for the sale of beer and wine on its premises, while one of the area’s most well known established has been denied.

Decided officially at the September Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) board meeting, Los Tovares Grill & Cantina at 1210 N. Jackson St. in Magnolia was permitted to sell beer and wine to legal aged patrons on its premises.

The permit was approved Sept. 12. It had no objections from local public officials. Jose Nolasco was the name on the application.

At the same meeting, ABC directors refused an on premises wine and beer license at Stars Cinema Six of El Dorado. The local prosecuting attorney was listed as an objecting party on the application, according to ABC public records. Betsy A. Lewis of Magnolia was listed as the name of the applicant. Since no minutes are available for regular ABC meetings, the exact reasoning for the application refusal is unknown at this time.

When contacting ABC on Wednesday, an official said the denial is being appealed by the applicant’s attorney and that a special hearing will take place that could reverse the decision. As opposed to regular ABC board meetings, details of the appeal will be available to the public. The official also said that the date for the appellate hearing is yet to be scheduled since it is still early in the process. The denial was made official less than two weeks ago.

The Union County movie theater has attempted to obtain an alcohol license for at least the past three months. On June 21, according to the El Dorado NewsTimes, the local city council approved beer and wine sales at the cinema by a 4-3 vote. El Dorado Mayor Frank Hash and El Dorado Police Chief Billy White also signed in favor of the ABC application.

Local public sentiment for the beer and wine sales, according to the News-Times report, was somewhat mixed — with many social media posts both in favor and not in favor of the sales. One city official said the biggest concern was the large regular contingent of children at the theater.

In a presentation at the June El Dorado City Council meeting, Stars Cinema co-owner Jake Turner said that multiple measures would be taken by the theater to monitor alcohol sales. He outlined steps that included a significant off-duty police presence, retraining of the concession staff, use of black lights to detect fabricated or fake IDs, the use of wrist bands or stamps to identify legal beer and wine consumers, and further training from ABC officials.

“Once people see how controlled it is and the steps we’re taking to make it a safe, clean environment, I don’t think it’ll be an issue at all,” said Turner at the June city council meeting.

The primary reasoning for the alcohol application was noted as a way for the theater — the only commercial movie house in the Columbia, Union, and Ouachita County area — to increase profits and follow the trend that has swept over cinemas in recent years. Since concessions, not actual ticket sales, are a major revenue stream for movie theaters, expanding the menu to encompass beer and wine is another way to pull consumers away from their smart TVs and into the theater.

“A lot of movie theaters that sell beer and wine are showing an average 25 percent increase in concession sales,” Turner added.

In larger cities such as Dallas and Oklahoma City, the trend of not only beer and wine sales, but mixed drinks and restaurant-level food being hand-delivered to one’s seat has recently taken hold. And with movie studios — especially for their major releases — sometimes requiring up to 90-percent of first-week ticket revenues from local theaters as part of a distribution fee, offering more and more consumable options at the concession stand is sometimes not just a means of good customer service, but one of survival.

According to a September 2016 report from news magazine The Week, the average distribution rate nationally paid by a movie theater is 60 percent, or $6 for every $10 ticket sold over the life of a picture’s release. The rest typically goes back to the theater itself to cover expenses.

Most of the remaining profits, the piece said, are made through concessions. One of the largest profit makers, either in the restaurant business or the movie theater business, is through alcohol since the markup is typically greater than food.

Turner said in June that the move to apply for the beer and wine application was more about offering customers what they want than anything else.

“That’s what it’s about,” he said. “It’s not a desperate attempt to stay in business. It’s about giving people more choices at the concession stand.”