Plans for a bar featuring bikini-clad dancers in cages will go forward in Waldorf, but a member of the liquor board warned owners to be careful, or they could lose their liquor license, and their investment along with it.

“I guess I just want to throw out a caution, a strong caution, especially with bikinis and poles and cages,” said liquor board member Wayne Magoon. “You’re talking about spending $800,000 to build up this business and create this storefront and the like. You clearly need to realize that one wardrobe malfunction and the wrong folks are in there seeing it, you’re going to have an $800,000 hamburger stand without a license. So purely a word of caution: You’re going to have to be very, very careful.”

The Board of License Commissioners for Charles County granted Myung Ho Paik and Robert A. Boarman a license to sell beer, wine and liquor at Spice Lounge Bar & Grill, to open on Old Washington Road. The bar still needs other permits and a Maryland sales tax number from other governmental bodies.

Offenses yield fines, suspensions

Within hours of a new licensee taking over, a server at Port Tobacco Marina sold alcohol to an underage person working with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, Alcohol enforcement officer Judith Harman said.

“We’re disappointed it happened so soon. It happened four hours after the transfer happened. It happened that day,” licensee Michael Mona said of the May 23 violation. The establishment now checks IDs for all alcohol purchases, and the server was fired, he said.

The restaurant was fined $500 and its license was revoked for one day, with another two days suspended for three years. The waitress was fined $50.

La Tolteca Restaurante Mexicano in La Plata received a $25 fine for refilling alcohol bottles. The board agreed with attorney Hammad Matin that, while it was illegal to do, proprietors had not tried to cheat anyone by storing premixed drinks in empty liquor bottles May 2 while preparing for the Cinco de Mayo rush.

General Manager Marcos Megana said the step was taken as a “time saver” on their busiest day of the year.

“Do me a favor. Don’t ever do this again,” Pamela M. Smith, board chairman, said.

WOW Café and Wingery in Waldorf got a $500 fine and lost its license for one day after a licensee went too far to impress customers. Another two days of closure were suspended for three years.

While hosting companions on April 16, licensee Robel T. Yohannes went to a liquor store to provide companions with Red Stripe, Guinness Extra Stout and Fat Tire beers, breaking a Maryland law requiring bars to buy only from licensed distributors.

“Trying to please your friends wasn’t the best thing to do in this matter, huh? These were your close friends, you were saying. They should have respected you enough not to put your livelihood in jeopardy. The bad judgment worries me so early in the game,” Smith said.

A complaint about alcohol service to minors triggered a sheriff’s office “compliance check” of Getaway Lounge in Waldorf, which licensee Yuk Chu Chan Poon, working behind the bar, admitted she failed on May 23. Poon and her daughter, bar co-owner Pak Poon, took turns quieting a fussy toddler during their hearing as Yuk Chu Chan Poon apologized, saying she needed new glasses.

“Someone is very sure that their underage daughter is receiving alcohol at your establishment and I need to know how you’re going to solve that,” Magoon said.

The establishment recently fired all but one of its employees, Pak Poon said. She suspected it was a disgruntled former worker, not an angry parent, who called in the complaint.

The bar was fined $500 and closed for one day, with another two days suspended for three years.

Simpson’s Corner in La Plata received the same penalty for a similar violation May 19, when a clerk sold beer to an underage police informant. In addition, the clerk was fined $50.

Temporary licenses issued, permanent license transferred

Indian Head Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad received licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. July 20, Aug. 31 and Sept. 21 at Texas hold ’em fundraisers at the firehouse.

La Plata Volunteer Fire Department received licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Aug. 25 and Sept. 29 at Texas hold ’em fundraisers at the firehouse.

Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department received licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. July 14, Aug. 11 and Sept. 8 at Texas hold ’em fundraisers at the firehouse.

Benedict Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad received a license to sell beer from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 11 at a cornhole fundraiser at the firehouse.

College of Southern Maryland received a license to sell beer, wine and liquor from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Swan Point Yacht & Country Club in Issue for a fundraiser.

International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 10 received a license to sell beer, wine and liquor from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 8 at Gilbert Run Park for a union picnic.

Also, the license of Pure Restaurant & Lounge in Waldorf was transferred from Steven T. Kerig to Debra Ann Watson, pending approval by the fire marshal.

emitrano@somdnews.com