Kelly, left, and Katrina Kerlin, right, received approval from the Kosciusko County Alcohol and Tobacco Commission Thursday for a beer and wine retailer restaurant license for Nancy Jo’s B & K LLC, doing business as Nancy Jo’s, 606 N. Jefferson St., Silver Lake. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — The B & K stand on Jefferson Street (SR 15) in Silver Lake has been there for decades, but Thursday, June 5, it was approved for something a little unique for drive-in restaurants.
The Kosciusko County Alcohol and Tobacco Commission approved a favorable recommendation for a beer and wine retailer restaurant license for Nancy Jo’s B & K LLC, doing business as Nancy Jo’s, 606 N. Jefferson St., Silver Lake. Carry-out is included. The state commission will have to give final approval for the license.
Owners of Nancy Jo’s are Kelly and Katrina Kerlin. “We just kind of thought it would be fun to have — you get to sit outside, you have a beer,” Katrina said.
Kelly said, “It’s really convenient. There’s really nothing to speak of between Wabash and Warsaw. It’s a great location for something like this. We have a lot of lake crowd, in the summers especially, that comes. We want to promote a positive atmosphere for the community. I grew up there. We live there. It’s something we want to be proud of.”
He noted the building has probably been there since the 1950s. Katrina said it’s right next to the police station, so it’ll be low-key. Commission President Alan Alderfer asked if all the seating is outside, and Kelly said yes, but it will not necessarily be seasonal. They were thinking of having curtains that go up and down beneath the restaurant’s canopy with radiant heat.
“We opened this — we actually bought it last year about this time. It had been closed for a couple years. It took six months, roughly, to get it in order to where we could open it, and — a little unheard of — but we did open it in December. We have staff, and we thought we might as well give it a whirl, and it was really well received,” Kelly stated.
Alderfer asked who they had on staff that would be serving beer and wine. Kelly said Rebecca Miller is their general manager, but they have a couple other people that work for them that are part-time but currently work in the bar industry. Katrina said they’re older. Hours are only going to be 11 a.m. to either 8 or 9 p.m. so they’re not going to be open late.
Excise officer April Tackett had several questions. “The one big question is, on the application you said you were requesting the carry-out privileges. So that’s beer and wine in its original container to go only,” she said. “So, for instance, if I walked through the front door, and ordered whatever you have to eat plus a six-pack to go. Then how do I get all of that?”
Kelly said it would be bagged. Katrina said they could do whatever they needed to do, but currently they only have the one serving area. She said the serving area “was the length of the store” and it’s concrete. Tackett said that was going to be one of their problems.
“In the state of Indiana what constitutes a bar room is serving alcohol across a counter. So if I am walking into your store, whether I’m getting a draft beer to go sit at the picnic tables, or whether I’m getting a six-pack to walk out the door, you can’t serve it to me across that counter,” Tackett said.
Kelly asked if they could walk it out, and Tackett said that would be fine.
When Kelly said they have car hops to take orders out to people, Tackett said that was another issue.
“We do not have an alcohol permit that allows curbside service like that,” Tackett stated. Katrina said for most people, they would serve the alcohol to them at the picnic tables.
Tackett said an employee could bring it out to the picnic table to the customer, but an employee can not take it out to the cars when they’re parked in the parking spots. She suggested they look at the carry-out laws for alcohol. Customers can not drink alcohol at the curbside in their vehicles. Because it’s outdoors with open space, even with the awning, the Kerlins need to delineate it and call it a patio, Tackett told them.
“So the patio rules are: It has to be an at-least 3-foot high barrier. You can have more than one opening,” she explained, but the opening has to be less than 5 feet wide. “But it somehow has to be delineated. So, it just says by a barrier, so if you wanted to do ropes, if you wanted to do nice planters, or whatever is going to keep it the same, especially since you’re going to be year-round.” If they’re not going to be open in the winter, they can call it a seasonal patio, but the barrier can’t be taken up and down at will.
“Honestly, this is unique, and we have to believe that you’re going to do what you’re supposed to,” Tackett stated. “It’s going to be easy to curbside beer, whatever.”
Katrina said they’re not lawbreakers.
“And when you’re super slammed, it’s also going to be easy to just throw that six-pack across the counter instead of whatever you’re going to have to do, walk around it,” Tackett continued. “The only rule that we have under the law is — you have to have a permanent structure, which they do, it’s not on wheels or anything. You have to have a physical address, which they do. There’s nothing that says how big or small your patio can be. You can even have a bar on the patio … if you had the means to have extra employees.”
Alcohol has to stay contained to the business’ floor plan.
Commission member Mike Hall made a motion to approve the license, Tackett seconded it and the motion passed 3-0, pending final approval of the floor plan. There were no remonstrators.
The commission also heard, and approved, petitions for a transfer of ownership and transfer of location for a beer retailer restaurant license and a beer, wine and liquor restaurant (210-1) license for Mi Tierra Mexican Cantina LLC, doing business as Mi Tierra Mexican Grill & Cantina, 2604 Shelden St., Warsaw.
Tackett explained the license was previously for a restaurant on Winona Avenue and “they bought the license but not the building or property, so they’re moving the license from one side of town to the other.” Co-owner Gaudencio Zaca-Velazquez said he’s been in the restaurant business for 18 years. This is his second time for selling liquor. The restaurant will have 10 to 14 employees, and they all will go through server training, he said.
There were no remonstrators.
License renewals without any violations approved by the commission included:
• The American Legion Post 253 Inc., doing business as American Legion 253, 756 S. Main St., North Webster, beer, wine and liquor frateral club license.
• G & M Package Store Inc., doing business as Beef’s Booze Barn, 100 N. Huntington St., Syracuse, beer, wine and liquor package store license.
• Good Oil Company Inc., doing business as Good To Go No. 95, 617 Buffalo St., Warsaw, beer and wine dealer grocery store license.
• Msm Holdeo LLC, doing business as Martin’s Super Market No. 26, 1150 Husky Trail, Warsaw, beer, wine and liquor drug store license.
• Saint Regis Club LLC, doing business as Saint Regis Club LLC, 114 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, beer, wine and liquor restaurant license.
• Family Express Corporation, doing business as Family Express No. 84, 1160 Executive Blvd., Warsaw, beer and wine dealer grocery store license.
• Port Winona Lake LLC, doing business as Port Winona, 807 E. Canal St., Winona Lake, beer and wine retailer restaurant license.
• Full Service Dining Inc., doing business as Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen, 2640 Escalade Way, Warsaw, beer, wine and liquor restaurant license.
