Keyport Eatery Broke Liquor Laws By Selling Homemade Sangria: AG

KEYPORT, NJ — On Monday morning, the New Jersey Attorney General announced a round-up of more than 20 restaurants and bars across the state that have been charged with violating orders from the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) on alcohol-to-go sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

And popular Keyport bar/restaurant Old Glory Kitchen and Spirits was among them. What was Old Glory's transgression?

Selling homemade sangria to go.

"Basically, we misunderstood the rules for selling alcohol via delivery and takeout: We sold our homemade sangria," said Joe Orecchio, an owner at Old Glory. The bar is actually located inside a former church on Broad Street in quaint, waterfront Keyport, which sits directly on the Raritan Bay.

"We had no idea we couldn't do that; we even promoted it on our website and Facebook page. As soon as we were told to stop, we stopped. We found out afterwards it has to be in a sealed container."

According to the executive order, businesses with a liquor license can sell alcohol curbside to go, however all alcoholic beverages must be in their sealed original containers.

Orecchio said it was a completely honest mistake.

"The ABC came in one day and asked us about it. They said do you know you are not allowed to sell that? I said no, absolutely not; I was totally unaware," he said. "There was really no sneakiness. And we said we would stop right away. I think they (the ABC) found out about it from reading our social media, because like I said, we advertised it. We wouldn't have posted it on our social media if we thought for one second it was in violation."

"There is so much information going around about what you can and can't do — and we misunderstood," said Orecchio.

All 20 establishments named on the list face suspension of their liquor licenses for at least 10 days.

Orecchio said he's hopeful that doesn't happen, and right now is just waiting to see what the powerful Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control decides.

Orecchio said that while it was "very difficult" at first to switch to just takeout and curbside delivery, "business has actually been better than we ever expected. We feel the community has rallied around us."

"It was tough at first; it was like opening up a new restaurant," he said. "But we are happy to still be treading water, let's say. We feel very fortunate because we know there are a lot more people out there that are not so fortunate."

This past weekend, Old Glory set up a donation table in their parking lot, and gave 15 percent of the profits from their daily lunch special to Old Bridge Food Bank and the Keyport Ministries Food Bank.

The restaurants named by the Attorney General for violating the pandemic orders are (It is unknown what their infractions are):

• Alchemist and Barrister in Princeton
• Bask Bar and Grill in Woodland Park
• Buteco Sports Bar in Long Branch
• Core 3 Brewery in Clayton
• Devil’s Creek Brewery in Collingswood
• Disabled American Veterans, Clifton Chapter #2 in Clifton
• Lina’s Restaurant in Bloomingdale
• Linwood Inn in Linden
• Medina Liquor Store in Elizabeth
• Old Glory Kitchen and Spirits in Keyport
• Quilvio’s Tavern in Paterson
• Rail’s Steak House in Towaco
• Randolph Diner in Randolph
• Riviera Maya in Branchville
• Riviera Maya in Rockaway
• Tacos El Tio in Medford
• Taphouse 15 in Wharton
• The Sawmill in Seaside Heights
• Vincenzo’s Ristorante in Middlesex

These two establishments received fines:

• Juliano’s Restaurant in Egg Harbor Township ($500) for offering investigators a beer before they identified themselves.

• The Liquor King in Pennsauken ($750) for violation of face mask requirements.