A Mexican restaurant in Ocean Pines had its liquor license suspended for 30 days for selling alcohol to a minor.
The Worcester County Board of License Commissioners at a Feb. 19 hearing levied the penalty, which also included a $4,000 fine, against the Plaza Tapatia restaurant located in the South Gate Shopping Center.
Hearing testimony showed that on Jan. 20, a female employee at the Plaza Tapatia in the South Gate Shopping Center failed to ask for ID or ask his age when an underage cadet with the Worcester County Sherif’s Office ordered a Miller Lite bottle at lunchtime.
When the regular bartender stepped out, the woman, who told the board she usually did not tend bar, filled his duty station. The woman was not certified in Techniques of Alcohol Management, or TAM, which is required for bartenders in Maryland, according to testimony.
A representative from Plaza Tapatia management at the hearing told License Commissioners Reese Cropper III and Charles Nichols that she takes full responsibility and declined to terminate the employee for the oversight.
“I advocated for her, because I thought it was our responsibility, because of her age, that she deserves the opportunity,” said Jacqueline Saldana, a manager with the family-owned chain of restaurants. “But I strongly believe that, if it would have been any of my other servers, I would have fired them on the spot, because it is complete negligence.”