The owner of Red Face Jack’s Pub has hired a Boston lawyer who is an expert in the state’s liquor license law to represent him in an appeal of a suspension his restaurant served last summer.
The appeal of a two-day license suspension with five days held in abeyance for overserving alcohol is scheduled for Aug. 26 in the Boston office of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
Ted Zambelis, who also owns DiParma Italian Table and the Yarmouth House in addition to Red Face Jack’s, said he’s simply trying to preserve his good name.
“We’ve been in town for 37 years and never had a violation,” Zambelis said Tuesday. “We like the town, just as long as we can go on with a clean record.”
Zambelis estimates he’s lost $30,000 between the two-day suspension and attorney’s costs, but said he has no intention of going after the town to recoup the funds.
The suspension was connected to an incident in May 2014, when police arrested a man who had been drinking at Red Face Jack’s and charged him with operating under the influence. The man allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, double the legal limit.
The bartender conceded during a hearing before selectmen last June that he had served the man six or seven drinks, but he argued the man had a friend pick him up. But the 51-year-old had returned to retrieve his car about an hour after leaving Red Face Jack’s and was arrested.
“I had Attorney (Peter) Lloyd represent me at the hearing and he did a good job,” Zambelis said. “But I wanted the best attorney so I decided to hire a Boston attorney from a firm that helps to write the laws for the ABCC.”
Attorney Karen Simao will represent Zambelis in the appeal.
Kris Foster, General Counsel for the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, said there’s no way for Zambelis to recoup the two days of business he lost when he served the suspension last June.
“It’s one of those things where you can’t unring the bell,” Foster said. “I think what it does is benefit the future.”
Yarmouth selectmen were divided when they voted on the disciplinary action against Red Face Jack’s last June. Michael Stone, Tracy Post, Norman Holcomb and Erik Tolley voted that there had been a violation of state liquor laws, while James Quirk voted there had not been.
Stone joined Quirk in opposing the two day suspension and five days held in abeyance, saying the penalty was too stiff.
Courtesy Cape Cod Times written by