Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
TOOELE — The chef at a new Tooele restaurant is explaining how employees were left scrambling before its grand opening, after finding out they couldn't get a liquor license because of where the restaurant is located.
They've now come up with a creative plan to operate sans license, despite the unexpected setback.
Trying out Tooele's new talk of the town, customers have been keeping Rome Italian Restaurant busy in its first full week of business.
Chef Fred Huerta Leon said it offers a menu based on dishes from Rome, mixing fresh ideas with unique flavors — in a community they specifically chose for this concept.
"That was the biggest thing that set us forward, to opening an Italian restaurant here in Tooele," Huerta Leon said.
Building hard to miss
The eatery occupies a space at 85 N. Main Street and that's hard to miss as people drive by. Huerta Leon said they renovated the entire building from top to bottom.
Husband and wife Jefrey and Jackie Hayes decided to have a date night at the new establishment after driving by and seeing it was open.
"Tooele really needs some diversity in restaurants. We don't have a lot of selection," Jefrey Hayes said. "So, we were really excited to give this a try."
Sitting at a two-top table in the bar area, the couple explained they planned to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner.
"I was excited, I was like, 'Oh, we go the bar,'" Jackie Hayes said. "And then I start looking, and I was like, uhhhhh... no alcohol."
They could see the bar shelves lined with Torani syrup bottles, and non-alcoholic liquors and wines. The beverage fridges that might normally house beer are filled with products like Coca Cola and Topo Chico.
"I asked them if they had a liquor license," Jefrey Hayes said.
They weren't the first to wonder.
"Well, we got denied by DABS essentially," answered Huerta Leon, who has had to explain to quite a few customers since the doors opened. "It was inside the 300 feet where DABS requires you to be outside of in certain areas, with a chapel inside."
Liquor license
Rome Restaurant may be in a prime spot on Main in Tooele, but Huerta Leon described how it's about 50 feet too close to a church — located about 250 feet down the sidewalk — for a liquor license.
By those measurements, the restaurant would clear the Utah law that mandates restaurants with an alcoholic beverage license be at least 200 feet from a church, if "measured in a straight line."
But a second part of the law mandates restaurants with liquor licenses also be at least 300 feet away measured by "ordinary pedestrian travel."
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services was looking into specific information about the Rome Restaurant application and denial when reached out to by KSL-TV.
DABS Director of Communications and External Affairs Michelle Schmitt explained how in general, the DABS uses two measuring tools, a measuring laser pointer and a measurement wheel. A licensed establishment must meet both the straight line and walking path measurement, she said.
"The department's legal responsibilities are defined in state law. When it comes to proximity requirements, the law is very clear and inflexible," Schmitt wrote, in an email. "The department cannot legally provide alcohol licensing if the business does not meet the proximity requirements."
She said they work hard to inform business owners of the legal and safety requirements for obtaining alcohol licensing, and that they encourage anyone wanting to sell alcohol at their business to contact the department early so that the DABS can support them in opening and operating their business.
Fight the decision
"Once we found out that we weren't going to get the license, we scrambled as much as we could," Huerta Leon said.
He said not having a liquor license does drive some business away, and they're looking at trying to fight the decision.
Days before opening, they came up with a new idea to give customers drink options, Huerta Leon explained, by "replacing the idea that was going to be a full bar with alcohol, is now our brand new mocktail bar."
Customers can order a glass of nonalcoholic wine, or a mocktail with non-alcoholic liquors. For example, the Tricolada is a concoction of pureed and layered fruity flavors topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
"Our bar team did an amazing job preparing mocktails," Huerta Leon said. "Just a lot of unique flavors."
Customers like Tracy Sandberg have been giving those house drink specialties a try.
"It had the pureed pineapple and coconut in it," she said, of the Tricolada. "It's really good."
Jefrey and Jackie Hayes ended up not ordering drinks with dinner, but did say the food made up for it. The couple already has plans to come back for their daughter's upcoming birthday dinner.
"It's kind of nice to have something local, don't have to drive into the (Salt Lake) valley," Jefrey Hayes said. "It was really good. I would recommend it."
