By Doug Miller
"We run a proper job here," Braddish said on Monday, two weeks after Long Beach police cited two of his bartenders for serving alcohol to minors. He was speaking, as he is known to do when agitated, at 200 miles per hour. "We don't run an underaged place here. I hadn't gotten an underaged drinking ticket in two years. So before you write your bull---- story, you should do your homework."
The conversation stemmed from an incident on Feb. 16, a Friday night, during which the State Liquor Authority, assisted by the LBPD, ran an undercover investigation in the Tiki Bar. Of the roughly 35 patrons Braddish said were in the bar that night, three were found to be underaged and were issued summonses. The two bartenders were also ticketed.
According to a Long Beach police official, a summons is typically given only to a patron. But the February incident was different because undercover SLA agents were in the bar for two hours, watching the bartenders.
Braddish said the raid was staged, in effect, because his West End neighbors don't like him. When an investigation unfolds like the joint operation last month, it is usually because the SLA has received numerous complaints. "There's nobody in the bars in February in Long Beach," Braddish said. "Why do I think they came after me? I have someone who has something out for me. ... There's always unfounded complaints."
He added he was vigilant in keeping underaged patrons out of his bar, but that no system was flawless. "You sit there and check someone's ID, and the girl steals her sister's ID who is 21 or 22, they look exactly alike," he said. "This isn't a troublesome bar ... Believe me, nobody wants underaged people in their place. ... I always cooperate with the Long Beach police."
Braddish has had to do his share of cooperating. According to numbers provided by the Long Beach Police Department, February's raid marked the seventh time since 2002 that underage drinking summonses were issued in the Tiki Bar. Lt. John Radin, the department's deputy executive officer who is in charge of code enforcement for the bars, said the bar had built up what he called "a reputation" for underaged consumption. "There's obviously been an inordinate number of complaints at that one location," Radin said.
And for those who track underaged drinking arrests in Long Beach, the Tiki Bar is certainly on the radar. Judi Vining, the coordinator of Long Beach Hospital's Coalition Against Underage Drinking, provides the alcohol awareness education that the city's courts require every minor who receives a drinking ticket to complete. "Of the 992 kids that have come through this program since 2001, it's not infrequent that they cite the Tiki Bar as the easiest place to get in," Vining said.
If the bars are sincere about keeping minors out, she added, they can send employees to be trained properly. "There are multiple layers of responsibility here," Vining said. "You make sure every time you have a new employee, you send him for training so he can do responsible beverage service. And you make sure you have a really, really, really good bouncer at the door. ... If someone has a stolen ID, you call the police."
When the police respond to a complaint at a licensed tavern that results in a summons being issued for consumption of alcohol by a minor, the matter is referred to the State Liquor Authority. According to Radin, the SLA received referrals from the Long Beach Police about underaged drinking in the Tiki Bar on Nov. 27, 2002, May 25, 2003, July 4, 2004, Feb. 4, 2005, Feb. 6, 2006, Aug. 19, 2006 and again last month.
In comparison, referrals were also made about illegal drinking at the Whale's Tail on Nov. 23, 2005, the Inn on Nov. 22, 2001 and Minnesota's on March 3, 2006.
A source at the SLA said it can be a long time before summonses result in civil action. Once a referral is made, a hearing is held to determine whether to pursue further action against a licensee - the bar's owner. But the SLA has been known to act on its own based on neighbors' complaints.
The targets are not exclusively West End bars. Every supermarket in Long Beach, several delis and stores and even the Knights of Columbus Hall have been cited by the SLA since 2003 for selling alcohol to minors.
Most recently, according to SLA records, penalties were imposed Jan. 24 against West Beech Beverage, a distributor at 1070 W. Beech St.; the C-Town supermarket at 1080 W. Beech; and Lilly's Corner, a store at 801 W. Beech. On Feb. 21, the Alabama Deli, at 884 W. Beech, had its license suspended for 15 days and received an $8,000 fine.
But no SLA penalties have been leveled against the Tiki Bar since 2003, the earliest year for which records were available.
Yet it is the Tiki Bar and Braddish, the well-known son of Kevin Braddish, the former Long Beach Democratic leader and city councilman, that tend to draw the most fire from neighbors, as Brian conceded in an interview this week.
In fact, it used to be worse. Braddish renovated the bar last year to enclose the back - in effect, removing the "backyard" from the bar and reducing the noise impact on his neighbors. But even that improvement was, at least initially, opposed by several people in the West End.
"I look at it like this," Braddish said, still speaking at top speed. "This bar is the second oldest in Long Beach after Shine's. It's been here since 1930-something. And you know what? It's going to continue as a bar, whether I sell it or I continue to run it. So whoever has [it out] for me, I don't know what to tell 'em. We try to run a proper place out of here, and it is what it is."
Comments about this story? Dmiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
