Tiffany's Making Way For Tio Juan's Margaritas

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- Toms River will be gaining a Mexican restaurant in the coming months, after the Township Council approved a liquor license transfer to the owners of a proposed Tio Juan's Margaritas Mexican Restaurant Tuesday night.

The transfer comes nearly three years after the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control ordered the owners of the former Tiffany's restaurant on Route 37 to divest themselves of the restaurant's liquor license, and nearly a year after the deadline they had been given to do so.

Tio Juan's Margaritas Mexican Retaurant boasts freshly made food with a variety of typical Mexican dishes as well as some dishes for those who are not fans of Mexican food such as burgers and chicken sandwiches, with offerings of beef, chicken, shrimp and fresh tuna (listed as ahi). It also offers a drink menu of several varieties of margaritas, as well as sangria, mojitos and wine. Non-alcoholic beverages are listed as well.

The Toms River location, to be owned by Garden State Dining LLC of Old Bridge, would be the first in New Jersey. There are 25 locations now, in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

The council's approval of the liquor license transfer, which received approval from the ABC before it was presented to the council, clears the way for the new restaurant to be opened. Tiffany's closed last July.

The owners of Tiffany's -- Empire Entertainment LLC, owned by Bruno D’Uva Sr. and Bruno D’Uva Jr., and Lisa Barna -- were ordered in August 2013 to give up the license by July 24, 2015, according to the ABC announcement in August 2013.

The D'Uvas each owned 30 percent of the license and Barna owned 40 percent. In addition to selling the license, they had to pay a fine of $200,000 as a result of three incidents where Tiffany's patrons were served alcohol when they were visibly intoxicated, according to the ABC and Toms River police.

ABC laws prohibit licensed establishments from selling alcoholic beverages to any patrons actually or visibly intoxicated, the state said.

According to police reports, around 2 a.m. on May 12, 2010, Kelly Walck, 40, was killed when the car she was riding in crashed into a utility pole on Route 37 in Toms River. The driver of that car, Laura Nelson, and another passenger, David Sharrer, each had blood alcohol levels of more than three times the .08 legal limit to drive.

Nelson, who was sentenced to four years in state prison for vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated, said in a sworn statement to ABC investigators that she had been drinking with Walck and Sharrer at Tiffany’s for approximately 90 minutes before she got behind the wheel.

Toni Lebert, 31, was killed July 23, 2010 when she hit a NJ Transit bus around 1 a.m. on July 23. According to sworn witness statements, Lebert drank at Tiffany’s for nearly three hours, went to her boyfriend’s house and later crashed on the Garden State Parkway. Her BAC was .255, ABC officials said.

In the third case, motorcyclist Frederick Voss, then 43, struck a car on Hooper Avenue after leaving Tiffany's in November 2006 and suffered severe injuries, according to police reports. Toms River police later arrested him for driving while intoxicated. His blood alcohol level was .196.