I saw one of those red-and-white signs posted on the porch at Redux over the weekend, so I assume they are the 11th member of the group. The thing about this aggregation of saloons, taverns or “Nightlife Establishments”, as they like to call themselves is that only Club 1220, Dan’s and Spoontronic are licensed to operate as bars. Crogans, Shiro, Mr. Lucky’s, 1515, Lift, Masses and Redux are all supposed to be “bona fide eating establishments” according to their ABC licenses.

Instead of security personnel, bartenders and servers being "vigilant" about keeping the “wrong” people out, how about serving food to your customers? Why does a “bona fide eating establishment” even need bouncers?

What happens if an entity is in the "sales arena" and meets their quota for a product they are selling? Should that entity simply be content with the quota? No. Why? Because the quota is a mandated requisite. Logic states to KEEP SELLING product(s).

Walnut Creek small business owners cough up rents that are exorbitant to say the very least. 2500 square foot commercial space in downtown walnut creek =
Not $5,000. Not $10,000. Lets try $10,000+ per month.

Restaurants are not able to survive on solely food sales. Upon meeting their food sales requisites it is; in fact the alcohol that allows them to attempt to scratch at breaking even; or maybe make a profit.

1515's 'build out' or interior design wasn't a couple thousand dollars. Owners spend over $300k - $500k+ in remodeling costs (could be out of pocket or financed); either way they build the high end ambiance; for the high end town; with the high end rents. It doesn't matter if they have a type 47 license. If they sell food; and have a night life where people basically want to drink...at 11:45 pm at night; their kitchens are open; however; nobody is coming into Walnut Creek at 11:45 pm on a Friday night for a candle light dinner. LOGIC tells the owners to add security...why?

If you can't find the answer as to why a 'bona fide' restaurant opts to provide security late night when they have been selling food for lunch and dinner, then...ObiWan...focus less on your mind trick skills & more on logic

FYI in response to the above - Crogan's is open Tues thru Sunday from 11am to 9 pm with a full menu served continuously all day. And on Mon thru Sun an appetizer menu is available from 9 to close. Since 1978 we have never stopped food sales. But the eating establishments in Walnut Creek have increased 10 fold making the competition fierce. Selling spirits, wine and beer is also a large part of a restaurants draw and income. And the ever increasing rents in the downtown area are indeed a huge problem for ongoing businesses. When was the last time you had a burger at Crogan's?

Patsy - it has been a while since I've had a burger at Crogans. But I had one at Main Street Deli on Friday.

And I do appreciate that competition downtown is fierce. I tend to blame the City for approving far too many Type 47 licenses downtown. That creates an environment were bar hopping is possible. And it creates pressure on "restaurant" owners to seek profits in alcohol sales. Unfortunately some of those owners have put profits above good bar management practices.

Not sure how much people get out before they make some of these comments. I'm all over this town from Tiki's, Massess,Va Di Vi,Prima, Stadium, Hub Cap, Crogan's, PF Changs. I eat at Crogan's and PF Changes in addition to other. I've even had sliders at Lift. So to me all in the list are 'bonfa fide eating establishments'. Buy after 10pm people are more thirsty than hungry. I might of had dinner before the movie but after the movie I'm thirsty. Walk into PF Changs after 10pm and see how many people are eating in the tables versus crowding around the bars.

I'm no Carrie Nation but it is clear the saloon keepers want to defend their businesses and maximize their profits. They are looking out for themselves. Who looks out for the rest of us?

Of course they are...... It's called being self employee'd and being an entrepreneur! We all play our parts in this thriving City of Walnut Creek. Business owners run their business, the city provides them with rules and regulations, and the Police serve and protect!!!! Deborah, do you support any of these local establishments?

Stop the chain restaurants and bars from coming in to town. The problem here is that you cant tell when a licensed restaurant/bar has to stop serving food. If they serve food all day long or whatever the time frame is, why does it matter if they stop selling food after 10pm? By 9 or 10pm, its the bar scene by then. Have you people never been to a restaurant/bar past 10pm? Its how they make money after the grill shuts down. God forbid everyone finds out that Katy's Creek has the best and strongest drinks in town on Saturday night....nobody is in there, yet.. they have a bar, serve awesome drinks. Oh no.. the new wine bar serves food as well.. are they over serving the Ugg drinking girls from St Marys again?! Find the happy medium people and quit complaining. I used to go the Shiro's when it was Sushi Groove. It was awesome. Good music, okay sushi, but the atmosphere made me not miss going into SF for dinner. How about WC make a zones such as Locust and Main street establishments can stay open until (example) 1AM (bar or restaurant or both). Any establishment outside this "zone" would have to be shut by midnight if it was a "restaurant/bar" license holder. Bar license would stay the same. Yes, it does increase the rents on Main and Locust zone area, but thats what its for... keep the trash out. :)

The bar I used to work at (not in WC) if bar time was 1230am, we would call last call at 1200AM. Everyone out the door by 1230. If they were not outside by 1230 and you are caught.. fined by police. So the term "ram drinks down their throats" really doesnt make sense. But it does make sense to have the same operating hours. If somebody's going to abuse alcohol now, they're going to figure out a way to do it by 1 a.m. And 2 a.m. isn't going to make it that much more likely. (or whatever times you want to place in for 1am and 2am.

Businesses are looking out for their profits, I learned that in business 101 before I had my own corporation. They also want a sustainable business that continues to be profitable. To that end, they don't want a scene from Roadhouse every weekend which will doom a business. So those out there that believe the establishments don't want this to work, think again!

Im sorry about the speeling yes I was not an english major. I wrote this right when I got home and sent it. I guess I should have spell check.

Saul, I LOVE the sign!

Info 925 - People are “forced” to hurry up and drink? Oh come on. People make a decision of where, when and how much to drink and should be held accountable for the consequences. Just as restaurant owners make a decision of where to locate, how much rent they can afford, whether to take out a personal loan, and whether to make another buck serving that guy who may have already had too much. They too, should be held accountable. There is an awful lot of whining about how tough circumstances are - AND I DO BELIEVE YOU - but that doesn’t entitle you to create an environment downtown that ties up the entire WCPD every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

If there were a factory in our town that polluted the air or water, I hope we would all demand that they clean up their act. And if they didn’t, we’d look to government to pass regulations to force them to do so. The way the bars/restaurants downtown have been allowed to operate has created a different form of pollution – polluted customers.

It would be wonderful if the bar owners cleaned up their own act, but so far all I’ve seen are some signs relating to how people dress and an expression of solidarity for a bar owner who employed a drug-dealing bouncer and repeatedly served alcohol to minors. How is this solving the problem of too many drunks on the street?

Looks like the bar owner spin machine is in full effect here. You'd get more traction turning your backs on the problem bars and supporting common sense change and the police in cracking down on the trouble makers.

LOL, the bar owners and their lackies sure are getting riled up. Shiro, Vice, 1515, and Lift are the problems here. The other owners would be wise to distance themselves from these establishments.