Mad 4 Mex keeps out those under 21

One week after state police cited eight students for underage drinking in Mad 4 Mex, the Mexican restaurant on Moravian Street has decided not to allow minors inside after 4:30 p.m. during their three busiest days of the week. According to Juno Yoon, a partner for all Mad 4 Mex restaurants in the chain, a restaurant employee will card everyone entering the establishment after 4:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, when the bar is busiest. He added that employees will also card students on other days if they get too busy. "When we feel as though we have too many people in the restaurant, we're going to start carding everyone [entering]," Yoon said. "We really want to eliminate the underage drinking in this establishment." One of the reasons for the decision was the incident during Spring Fling weekend in which eight underage students were cited by agents from the state Liquor Control Enforcement bureau while drinking at Mad 4 Mex. The restaurant implemented a similar measure last spring, when it stopped allowing minors inside after 11 p.m. five days a week. While Yoon admits that the new policy may cause the restaurant to "lose a little business" through underage customers who previously came only to eat, he said that overall, the decision will help the restaurant keep the bar crowd under control and avoid future problems. Thursday through Saturday nights were designated as the times during which minors will be prohibited from entering the establishment because those nights typically have the busiest "happy hours." But Yoon pointed out that the policy is not restricted to happy hour -- which lasts from from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. -- and will also include all operations for the rest of the nights. "We're definitely trying to police [underage drinking] ourselves, starting with happy hour," Yoon said. However, the provost-appointed alcohol task force said in its recommendations released yesterday that on-campus restaurants should remain open to underage students at night to give them more social options. According to John Greenwood, an official with the company that manages all University-owned real estate, Mad 4 Mex is within its rights as a tenant of the Penn-owned 3401 Walnut Street complex to institute such a policy. But he said the University will try to find ways to help the restaurant's management allow underage students to eat there while strictly monitoring and preventing underage drinking. "They are certainly allowed to do what they're doing," Greenwood said. "We can't run their business for them but we can certainly try to be as influential as possible in terms of encouraging creativity in the ways in which they meet students demands." "I think that they need to understand and work with the student body to strike a responsible balance that protects their business as well as provides a food outlet for those underage on our campus," Greenwood said. While the policy may change in the future, Yoon said that it will be in effect at least until the end of the school year and possibly longer.

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