‘We thought we were doing everything correctly and we weren’t,’ Springfield restaurant owner says after being cited

On Friday night, agents from the Ohio Investigative Unit (OIU) of the Ohio State Highway Patrol were able to purchase alcohol at approximately 10:15 p.m, the release said. The agents also witnessed several other after-hours sales and patrons continued to consume alcohol on the premises after 11 p.m.

Mindy Hogan-Taylor, the owner of Taylor’s Tavern said that she was at the restaurant when one of her employees served alcoholic beverages to the agents. According to her watch, it was 10:06 p.m. and she had the employee correct his mistake by telling the agents he shouldn’t have served them the beverages because of the 10 p.m. rule.

“The agents actually told me they weren’t going to cite him because he had realized that he made a mistake and went over and corrected it," Hogan-Taylor said.

She explained that they were cited because her employee served alcoholic beverages, that were already paid for, from a cooler after 10 p.m.

“We thought we were doing everything correctly and we weren’t," Hogan-Taylor said.

“They (customers) can buy a bucket of beer and we can sit it in front of them on the bar, but we can’t take it from the cooler," Hogan-Taylor said. "If those beers that were served had been put in ice on the bar we wouldn’t have been cited.”

The restaurant will go before the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for potential penalties, which could include fines and/or suspension or revocation of liquor permits.

Hogan-Taylor said they have been “very vigilant” about following the rules, but she wishes the 10 p.m. rule would had been clarified more. She said that prior to the citation she had tried to call the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for more information regarding the rule, but never heard back.

“I get it, I understand it, but I think they should have been more clear as far as what they were wanting," Hogan-Taylor said.

“We will pay the fine and move on and now we know so it won’t happen again,” she added.

Two other Clark County establishments have been cited. Pat & Martha’s Tavern in Medway, was cited for violating coronavirus related reopening policies that alleged the bar was opened when it should not have been in May and The Layne Lounge in Park Layne was cited for on-premises consumption of alcohol after 11 p.m. in August.