Houston we have a problem! Opening a Daiquiri Cafe in Texas

[wagner80]

This site ROCKS! I'm sure one of you experts will be able to assist me with some valid advice on my next venture.

I've been here in Houston since Hurricane Katrina and since my arrival I've been looking for that piece of home here. Many of Louisianans' are use to having grand nightlife experiences such as Bourbon Street, Canal, as well as many other stellar bars and brewery's that cater to thousands of customers each year.

Texans on the other hand are more conservative when it come to nightlife and liquor laws.

Of course Houston isn't in need of another bar or nightclub but it is in demand for a daiquiri shop/cafe, shot bar. In Louisiana daiquiri shops (cafe)/shot bars are on every corner like nail shops and 99 cent stores. Houston, TX population has also increase tremendously since Hurricane Katrina evacuees looking for that small piece of home.

The most recent U.S. Census report published in Houston Chronicle shows Harris County grew about 92,000 residents after the storm. I've also been
sending out mailers and hitting the streets conducting polls to see if there's truly a demand for this type of venue and an astounding 96% (out of 100 surveys) males and females between ages 21-35

In researching the tedious laws of the TX Alcohol Commission and I'm trying to think of a twist to my concept to allow being that my biggest challenge I face is my customers being able to leave the premises with their beverage and my business not be liable.

I'm still waiting for some return calls from some lawyers who specialize in these types of cases.

My passion for this is project is more than just a quick get rich scheme but being able to offer others a small piece of back home means so much to me. I just need some guidence on the necessary steps to take in researching and finding potiental investors to back me.

I have the right promotional connections to make this a prime venue! I just need expert advice from gurus such as yourselves to assist me.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you in the near future to see what your thought are to what I've given you

Thanks in advance

Richelle Wagner

[realityrox.com]

I wish you the best of luck, yet I worry of the issue with open containers and leaving the premise with them. I have done a lot of work in LA LA and I love and know of the exact places you speak of.

Definetely stay in the pockets of some experts in your area, and call you may call the liquor board there to "test the waters". Loop holes exist in the weirdest of places.

As for investors, this forum and probably local types in the area - maybe some that have relocated since Katrina can be of assistance.

[excellentbars]

Wagner

Hey buddy,,,I have some bad news for you.......(Open container laws and The laws that restrict a venue to sell open container liquor are strong and their for a purpose. to protect the general public.....)

I am from Vegas and have built and been involved with a new daquiri bar on the strip not (The Rockhouse) and the laws in vegas are the same as everywhere....IT IS NOT LEGAL TO CARRY LIQUOR ON THE STREETS IN VEGAS!!!! the police just dont enforce it.......I am not sure about LA but I would not be surprised if it is a law but not enforced in tourist areas....

If you want pictures I will post them in a second on the next post....

I have looked into the laws governing open container and very few area have open container controled areas.. 4th street live in Louisville KY and Pleasure Island Disney etc etc.....


I have recently been looking to open a Frozen Daquiri venue is South East Asia....Thailand....I have a small business proposal if you would like to see a copy....It is set up for Asia....

Chris...

OH Yeah the Rock House does about 1.5 mil and more a year on daquiris alone

Cheers
Chris

[excellentbars]

Pictures of the Daiquiri Bar The Rockhouse I Designed, Built and Consulted for in Vegas on the Strip...

Before on the inside

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_0836.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_0840.jpg

During Construction and after

Chain Walls

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_0933.jpg

Main Bar Stainless steel tile and GluLam beam Bar top....SICK!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_0955.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_1039.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_1079.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_1082.jpg

Daiquiri Bar

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/Picture-035.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_2008.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_2005.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_1088.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x188/visual4464/IMG_1087.jpg

Walla

Cheers Chris

[wagner80]

Chris,

Thanks for the speedy reply as well as attaching your pics to view. You did great things with that space!!! Looks real nice!

I guess I'm just an old stubborn gal who just can't take no for an answer on the open container laws here! I'll just have to change the concept and stick to a bar type venue. There is now an Eskimo Hut here that caters to customers thru drive-thru but TX alcohol commission states they serve their drinks with wine base/brewery products not distilled liquor. This is crazy to me therefore I guess my ideas need to be more innovative.

I'm still scouting a few venues going for those who've sold held liquor licenses in the past. I'd love to specialize in something different that other businesses aren't doing here and I've been playing with some ideas.

One that is coming to mind is a bar that sells only daiquaris and shots of liquor. In my last trip I took to Dallas I went to a shot bar that just opened in the area and he dosen't sell beer or anything else but double shots of your
liquor of choice for a set price of $10. I thought the concept was EXCELLENT and his bar was packed.

I'd also love to view your plan you have set for your South East Asia venue. At this time I'm still working on a final draft of my business plan but when I'm done I'd love to send you a copy for your viewing pleasure and to get some feedback from you.

Richelle

[realityrox.com]

Either I read your post wrong, or you have no idea what you are referring to on open containers at least in the south. In LA you can drive through a place and order a drink (at least you could really recently). Vegas isn't the only place where booze run freely - even if it is illegal there!


Bourban, 4th Street, SAvannah, Memphis, SEVERAL SEVERAL SEVERAL areas allow open containers. Like you said, most are in a controlled environment, but in LA it isn't illegal. They are common place all over.
Texas has (or had) a beer wine permit for open container and serving, but I am not sure what happened there...I think....Anywho, it will only happen with approval from the board. It isn't even remotely close to a far fetched endeavor, at least in the south.

Just goes to show, not everything - regardless of where you operate is how it is elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just the hardest part about this forum.

[excellentbars]

Jen

Here is my original Quote

I am not sure about LA but I would not be surprised if it is a law but not enforced in tourist areas....


Bourban, 4th Street, SAvannah, Memphis, SEVERAL SEVERAL SEVERAL areas allow open containers. Like you said, most are in a controlled environment, but in LA it isn't illegal. They are common place all over.

Allowing open containers and Selling PACKAGED Liquor Beverages is one issue and LEGAL is 90% to 95% of the Country, With the exception of "Dry Countys" in the South and Utah as they have difficult laws that I have not dealt with due to the Mormon Religion. :confused:

What the Original poster Wagner was refering to was

1-selling Open Container Beverages to Patrons who can then leave your venue....such as pouring a Vodka Tonic in a plastic cup and then allowing that patron to walk out of your venue with that ****tail or Daquiri.

2-Going to a liquor store or a grocery store and buying a 6 pack then walking outside and drinking it is LEGAL. as long as you are 21 :D

3-Going into a liquor store or a grocery store opening and drinking and paying for a few beers then walking out the door drinking those beers is ILLEGAL!

These are entirely different situations....

Here is my original Quote

I am not sure about LA but I would not be surprised if it is a law but not enforced in tourist areas....


In LA you can drive through a place and order a drink (at least you could really recently).

Yes you are correct.......

Note:
Alcohol can be consumed in plastic cups in the streets of New Orleans and taken from club-to-club if establishment allows it. Furthermore, you can enter most clubs at 18 years of age but must be 21 years old to consume alcohol.

These are the laws for louisiana, Please see page 12-17

http://www.atc.rev.state.la.us/docs/legal/law.pdf

Thank you Jen I have learned alot today doing intesive research on the situation.. :D

Wagner

Texas is a very tough State :mad: ....

Note:
No alcohol cap but ABV > 15.5% requires additional license, so many places are beer/wine only.
Wet/dry issues determined by city/county election. :(
Liquor stores statewide closed all day Sunday.
An alcoholic beverage served (on-premise) to a customer between 10 a.m. and noon on Sunday must be provided during the service of food to the customer.

Alcohol Laws and Regulations often Problematic
by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

Laws regulating the marketing, sale and consumption of alcohol should be reasonable, consistent and clear -- everyone would agree with that principle.

Unfortunately, laws concerning alcohol tend to have grown in a complex and inconsistent way since the repeal of National Prohibition in 1933. The case of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC) is a good example of the problem that exists across the U.S.

The alcohol laws and their interpretations are difficult if not virtually impossible to master. Allen Shivers, who headed the TABC for six years says of the alcohol code: “No one understands it. It’s at least as complicated as the IRS code.” He says that if three experienced TABC agents are given the same facts and situation, “you’d have at least five different interpretations of the Alcohol Beverage Code.”

The results are frustrating if not unfair to those who are trying to comply with the complex rules. A TABC agent chastised a restaurant owner about a flagrant violation of law: the restaurant’s outdoor tables had umbrellas with wine names and the Italian tricolors. That constitutes illegal advertising.

“For water carafes, the establishment had carefully removed all the labels from used tequila bottles of a particularly classic design. The agent looked all over the seemingly clear, clean containers, until he spotted a tiny etching of the maker’s logo in the base of the carafe -- and ordered all of them banished.” The restaurant owner said the agent carried on like a felony had been committed.

One bar owner had to involve the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to convince a TABC agent that the fish in his aquarium were not the dangerous piranhas that the agent falsely insisted that they were.

Another bar displayed a banner proclaiming it the winner of a Best of Houston category for serving a particular beer. “That display lasted only until a TABC officer ordered it removed immediately. The apparent violation: the sign mentioned the name of the bar and the beer it served.”

The mission statement of the TABC asserts that the “code is an exercise of the police power of the state for the protection of the welfare, health, peace, temperance and safety of the people of the state.” (Emphasis added.)

In reality, the code raises the costs of doing business, leads to higher prices, and reduces choices for the consumers in the state. For example, the law requires that beer can be sold only in certain size containers. Although a 12-ounce can is acceptable, an 11.67 ounce can -- common in much of the world -- is prohibited. Thus, consumers are needlessly denied access to many beers brewed in Canada, Holland, Belgium New Zealand, Japan and other countries.

A review of the TABC by a state legislative commission used such words as “over regulated,” outdated,” “inefficient,” poorly guided,” and “inconsistent.” The review found problems with everything from the way the agency conducts inspection and levies fines to marketing enforcement practices” that it described as out of touch. The agency actually agreed with the criticisms and the desirability of change.

It would be hard for anyone to defend many of the code’s provisions. For example:

An underage person who attends a party where alcohol is available to other underage person but who does not drink in order to serves as a Designated Driver can be arrested, charged and convicted of illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage. The TABC considers the abstainer to be in possession of alcohol, even though the person never touches any. The agency argues that the person is in an environment in which it is possible to possess alcohol. The result of this logic is to discourage designated driving and to increase the risks of alcohol-related injuries and fatalities. Of course it makes law enforcement much easier because it no longer requires guilt to obtain convictions.
Publicly traded corporations are prohibited from owning liquor stores because of a TABC rule from the 1940’s. It’s doubtful anyone knows why the rule was ever established.
TABC regulations require any establishment that sells beer and wine to pay 8.25% sales tax. However, if the same establishment also sells any distilled spirits, it must pay a 14% tax on all alcoholic drinks and other sales. Thus, it must pay an effective sales tax of about 16%. This almost doubling in sales taxes is simply because it sells distilled spirits.
A winery cannot legally list on its web page the stores that sell its wine.
A winery cannot legally give directions to its location over the telephone.
No deliveries of any kind can legally be made to any winery after 5:00 p.m. or on weekends. This can ruin truckloads of valuable grapes that arrive after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday.
The TABC analyzes all new alcohol products, thus unnecessarily duplicating a function already performed by federal agencies. This increases costs and needlessly delays the introduction of new products.
The TABC is to be commended for recognizing the indefensible nature of its code and operations, which are often not only often misguided but also counterproductive.


Cheers Chris

[KroniK Chill]

We are looking for Diaquiri bars that are interested in a great product that will enhance your drinks and make you completely unique.

www.kronikchill.com

let us know if your interested.

Scott

[Dreamfish]

I don't know if this is much help, but I am also looking into opening up a dacquiri shop, either here in Baton Rouge or in Gulf Shores, Ala. I know that in Shreveport, La., one shop managed to get permission to serve their product and allow customers to leave with it by simply serving the daiquiri in a Styrofoam cup with a lid on it, then taping it closed with scotch tape with a straw attached under the tape! Somehow, that passed as a "sealed container". Of course, you are expected to not take the tape off till you are out of the car and at your destination. I don't get it but it works. The place I admire so much does a huge business and has a great product. Nothing special, just a bar, tv and music...and the best, darn daiquiri's I have ever tasted. Each state is different and perhaps this is one of those loop holes you can check into.

In Alabama, you can get arrested for having an EMPTY container in your auto, regardless of when it was emptied. You can never drive with empty beer cans or partial bottles without serious consequences and the passenger can not be drinking either. It all comes down to what is regarded as a "sealed" container. I compare it to leaving a convenience store with a single beer in a paper bag. You are expected to be responsible enough to not pop the top and drive. Such is the taped lid on a daiquiri.

[walawdog]

I guess for me, the question would be, what is the definition of an "open container" and in the reverse, what would a closed container be defined as. Couldn't you sell a special container (with your logo on it) to your customers that could be sealed after you sold it to them. For example, one of those large mouth mason type jars that you could somehow seal right there in the store. Your customer could bring it back the next time (so they wouldn't have to pay extra the second time) and you could just reuse the same container over and over. Just a thought.