Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Restaurant Files For Permit
GRILL FIRST ONE IN CITY TO APPLY FOR PRIVATE CLUB LICENSE
FARMINGTON — Gabriela’s Mexican Grill in Farmington has applied for a private club license to sell alcohol at its new location at 330 E. Main St., according to restaurant spokesman Arnulfo Navarro.
This is the first restaurant in Farmington to apply for a private club permit, with the exception of the Golf Course at Valley View.
“In Farmington, the only way you can serve drinks is to have a private club license,” Navarro said. “We’re trying to compete with the guy down the road. That’s the only reason.”
Navarro said the restaurant will move into a new 4,500-square-foot building later this month. Plans are to open for business around the middle of June. The restaurant has a spacious, open dining room and will seat about 150 people.
The restaurant will offer beer, wine and margaritas only. Navarro said restaurant owner Gabriela Gonzalez wants the restaurant to continue to have a family atmosphere and the private club permit would allow customers to have a drink or two with their meal, if they choose, he said.
Michael Langley, director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, said the board is scheduled to consider applications for permits on June 19. If he does not receive any objections to the application, then the permit will be approved, Langley said. If there are any objections, he said the request is denied and a hearing will be held later in the summer.
Langley said he had not received any objections to Gabriela’s request.
Farmington is unique in that it is a small dry area within a wet county, Langley said. Establishments within a dry area can apply for a private club permit if the service of alcohol is an amenity to the restaurant, not the primary
source of attraction, Langley said.
To apply for a private club permit, a restaurant has to have been in existence for at least one year, has to post its request on the door of the restaurant and run notices in the newspaper. The application must include the names and signatures of a minimum of 100 people who are members of the private club.
“To be a private club, you have to be a non-profit organization,” Langley said, adding, “That doesn’t necessarily mean charity. Most country clubs are non-profit. It means you are not making money through the sale of alcohol.”
The restaurant will be required to maintain a membership and guest book, which can be an actual book or an electronic version, Langley said.
Gabriela’s application states the restaurant will be open seven days a week to serve Mexican food for its members and guests.
The application also says the restaurant will have a charity jar at the hostess stand and members and guests can donate to this jar. The charity will be selected every three months.
As part of the application process, the ABC Board mails out forms to public officials for comments.
Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn and police Chief Brian Hubbard returned their forms, both indicat- ing they did not have any objections to Gabriela’s application.
“The ownership of the restaurant are very responsible people,” Penn said. “I think it will be a very nice restaurant and something people will enjoy.”
Hubbard said he had talked to other officials and did not believe there was a “negative” in the restaurant having a private club license.
“If we can keep it here and keep revenues in the city, I’m all for it,” Hubbard said.
Langley said more than 800 businesses have private club permits in the state of Arkansas. Benton County has the most permits and at one time, that was as high as 140 permits, Langley said.