Manhasset Restaurant’s Liquor License Suspended: State

MANHASSET, NY — Toku Modern Asian was one of 23 restaurants and bars state-wide to have its liquor license suspended after egregious COVID-19 violations, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced in a news release Wednesday.

The restaurant, which is located on Northern Boulevard at The Americana, was the only restaurant in Nassau County to have its license suspended. Other Long Island locations included four restaurants in Suffolk County.

Investigators with the state's multi-agency task force saw 175 people “crowded inside” the Northern Boulevard restaurant’s premises on Feb. 12, in a scenario that was over two times the maximum occupancy under covid-related regulations, Cuomo’s office said.

Cuomo’s office described the business, which operates under the name Manhasset Restaurant LLC, as “a repeat offender” that had its liquor license previously suspended on Sept. 12, 2020, for “egregious violations.” The license was reinstated after the business paid a $25,000 fine, according to Cuomo’s office.

An employee, who answered the phone at Toku, referred Patch to the restaurant’s business office. No one was immediately available for comment.

Cuomo said 393 establishments have had their licenses suspended for violations of pandemic-related executive orders since last March. Four hundred and forty-nine charges have been filed against bars and restaurants since the start of 2021. Violators could face up to $10,000 per violation, while egregious violations can result in the immediate suspension of a bar or restaurant's liquor license, he said.

"Thanks to New Yorkers' hard work, we bent the curve last spring and fought off the holiday surge this winter and if we want the numbers to continue moving in the right direction, we have to keep our guard up and enforce rules that we know keep people safe," he stated. "The vast majority of bar and restaurants are following the rules, but we have zero tolerance for those who openly ignore public health measures, putting New Yorkers' lives at risk — and we will continue to hold them accountable.”

State Liquor Authority Chair Vincent Bradley said he continues to see increased compliance across the state as a “direct result of the hard work of conscientious business owners” putting public health and safety first.

“But we're still in the middle of a global pandemic, and the task force will continue taking action as New Yorker's have sacrificed too much and come too far to allow a handful of bad actors to derail our progress,” he said.