SNOW HILL – Officials fined an Ocean City restaurant $12,000 for letting patrons take alcohol off the premises.
The Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) fined Jonah and the Whale, the restaurant attached to the Flagship Oceanfront Hotel, $12,000 for serving alcohol in fountain drink cups that some patrons carried onto the Boardwalk. Chris Ruppert, the license holder, said the practice had started during the pandemic and he’d made a mistake in allowing it to occur this summer.
“In hindsight it was a horrible decision to make,” he said.
According to the BLC’s report of investigation, on three occasions during the summer police identified multiple people taking alcohol off Jonah and the Whale’s licensed premises, which includes the Riptide Pool Bar. During Wednesday’s liquor board hearing, Joe Moore, Ruppert’s attorney, said he and his client didn’t contest the contents of the report.
“We are here totally for mitigation,” he said.
Moore said Ruppert has had the liquor license at Jonah and the Whale since 2008 and that the violations that occurred this summer related to the Riptide Pool Bar, which fronts on the Boardwalk. Ruppert told the board that during the pandemic, when there were provisions for carryout drinks, his staff had started using Pepsi fountain drink cups to serve alcohol. Though those provisions weren’t in place this past summer, Ruppert said he’d allowed staff to continue the practice for patrons at the pool because the cups were larger than those traditionally used, and patrons wouldn’t have to stand in line for a drink so frequently.
“We’re a very busy bar,” he said.
Looking back, Ruppert said serving alcohol in the Pepsi cups eliminated staff’s ability to know whether patrons were leaving the premises with alcoholic drinks.
“They were being allowed to walk off because of the nature of the containers the drinks were in,” Moore said.
Ruppert acknowledged the practice erased one of the controls that was meant to ensure patrons didn’t walk off with drinks from the bar.
“I did not think that through at all,” he said.
At some point during the summer, Ruppert said he was chatting with his deck monitor, the individual tasked with ensuring patrons didn’t leave the premises with alcoholic drinks, and he was advised that hardly any patrons ever tried to leave the area with their drinks from the bar. It was at that point Ruppert realized there might be an issue with using the soda cups and stopped the practice.
“It just didn’t feel right,” he said. “I got a bad feeling. I told my bartenders no more Pepsi cups.”
Moore pointed out that occurred long before Ruppert was even advised of his hearing with the BLC and the fact that police had documented violations. He added that the business had been subject to eight compliance checks by local police in years past and had not sold to a minor on any of those occasions.
“He’s been here since 2008 without a violation,” Moore said. “He stopped the practice before he was caught, for lack of a better word.”
Moore said he’d contacted Ruppert’s landlord and had been advised that a suspension or revocation of the Jonah and the Whale liquor license would be considered a violation of the terms of the lease.
“If Mr. Ruppert, who’s been there since 2008, is suspended, he risks losing his lease,” Moore said.
As a result, he said his client was hoping for a substantial fine rather than a suspension or revocation.
“We understand the seriousness of this,” Moore said.
At the BLC’s request, several Ocean City Police Department officers stepped up to describe how they’d seen patrons leaving the premises with alcoholic drinks. One officer said she’d even gone to the bar to buy a drink and had been asked by the bartender if she wanted it “for here or to go.” She noted that she’d been wearing pants and tennis shoes and so didn’t look like an obvious pool bar customer.
“It sounds like it’s been going on quite a long time,” BLC member Charles Nichols said.
Bartender Derek Endlich said the practice had started during COVID and had simply continued. He said lines were lengthy at the pool bar and staff wanted to help customers avoid having to wait too long.
“We were doing it as a favor to hotel guests and pool customers,” Endlich said.
William Esham, chair of the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners, asked Ruppert if there was ever a time the deck monitor had provided patrons leaving the property with Pepsi cups to pour their drinks into. Esham reminded Ruppert he was under oath.
“As far as I know he did not do that,” Ruppert said.
Moore said there was no indication that was going on.
Nichols made a motion to fine Jonah and the Whale $4,000 for each of the three violations. The $12,000 total fine must be paid by Dec. 12.
“If it’s not paid, your license will be suspended,” he said.
