High Rise stops selling alcohol

The owner of the High Rise Bar and Restaurant said that he will no longer sell alcoholic beverages even if his liquor license is renewed. Owner Panos Bomis, whose license renewal was rejected by the state Liquor Control Board after it expired on October 31, said that it is no longer worth the trouble for him to sell alcohol. "Nowadays the law enforcement sees me as a criminal," Bomis said. "I can't take it. . . them looking at me like this." The LCB has heard both appeals and should reach a verdict soon, according to Ilene Onufer, an LCB secretary. High Rise's Bomis said he, too, will appeal the LCB's decision. If he is succesful, he said, he will sell the license, which is worth between $25,000 and $30,000. Bomis said business has dropped off over the last few weeks because he cannot serve alcoholic beverages. But he added that he hopes food business will pick up. Kelly and Cohen owner Vinesh Vyas said he had "no problem" getting the stay in Harrisburg, because, he said, the LCB had not given him time to appeal before "snatching" his license. Backstreet owner Mark Wright also said he received the stay because due process was not followed. Vyas said that business has been down because many people do not know that Kelly and Cohen can serve alcohol. He also said that business at Poor Richard's Deli Restaurant, which he also owns, has been slower because he could not sell alcohol there, either. Backstreet closed November 5 and is scheduled to reopen today. Wright said that he needed to "take a little break" after his license expired. "All this gets on my nerves," he said. "I don't think I am a nuisance." Wright said that he does his best to ensure that his patrons have proper identification. LCB spokesperson Donna Pinkham said the three establishments have histories of citations for serving alcohol to minors. High Rise was cited four times this year for serving minors. For the first offense the restaurant received a $1750 fine, for the second a $1000 fine and for the third a $1200 fine and a three-day suspension of its liquor license. The fourth citation has not yet been adjudicated. Kelly and Cohen was fined $1200 in 1989 for serving 16 minors and received a two-day suspension earlier this year for serving five minors.

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