Bouré, City Grocery alcohol permits suspended

Published 11:50 am Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Two well-known establishments on the Oxford Square are unable to serve alcohol this week.

Bouré and City Grocery were hit with citations and had their alcohol permits suspended for one week after serving a drink to a minor.

Mississippi Alcohol Beverage Control informed both restaurants they had violated Section 67-1-81 of the state code, which reads “any person or other persons who shall sell, furnish, dispose of, give or cause to be sold, furnished, disposed of, or given, any alcoholic beverages to any person under the age of 21 years shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

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According to information obtained through a public records request, the violations took place on March 29 when an ABC agent sent a 17-year-old minor into both establishments in an attempt to purchase alcohol. This was done after ABC had received complaints from local law enforcement that the restaurants were selling alcohol to minors.

At Bouré, the minor was able to purchase a Crown and Coke from a bartender. When the minor purchased the drink, the bartender asked to see identification. Despite the ID clearly stating the minor was 17 years old, he made the drink anyway. The same minor went into City Grocery and asked for the same drink from another bartender. The bartender did not ask for identification from the minor before making the drink.

The suspensions began on Monday at 10 a.m. and run through July 8 at 10 a.m.