The Westwood Press reports that the Board of Selectmen has imposed a three-day liquor license suspension but with a one-year abeyance on the Blue Orchid, a Chinese restaurant located at 927 High St., for serving alcohol to a minor.
Westwood Police Chief Bill Chase said it was the first offense in six years of having the license.
“We’ve been doing compliance checks since Westwood first began to license restaurants,” Chase said. “They were among the first ones licensed, and they’ve not had any previous violations.”
The compliance checks are done in cooperation with the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission and are treated like police sting missions.
“This particular individual, who is 18 years old, went into the restaurant and ordered an alcoholic beverage and was served without being asked for an ID,” Chase said. “When that happens, the person walks out and the investigators from the ABCC come in. They identify the person who sold the alcohol and then a hearing is held at a later date.”
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Pat Ahearn said Blue Orchid manager David Ng’s openness and willingness to comply encouraged them to pass the motion for a suspension with an abeyance. That means the restaurant will not have to serve the suspension for one year. If it has no violation within that year, the suspension is dropped.
“The manager there was very forthcoming,” Ahearn said. “He accepted responsibility and indicated that he had already taken remedial steps to prevent future violations.”
Further training for the staff is already underway, Ng said, emphasizing that the incident was a mistake.
“The violation is the first offense we’ve ever had,” Ng said. “The server just forgot and she made a mistake. There’s no excuse, she just forgot. And, we admit to the mistake.”
Now, Ng said, every time a server enters an alcoholic beverage into the computer, a screen will pop up reminding servers to check for identification.
“We’re emphasizing to the serving staff that checking for identification is taken very seriously here,” Ng said.
