Tim Grobaty: Please remind us to stay out of the restaurant business
By Tim Grobaty, Columnist
Long Beach Press Telegrampresstelegram.com
Posted: 05/14/2013 06:31:48 PM PDT
ART CRITICISM: The Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods (LACAN) blog has returned to its favorite gripe: the as-yet-unopened
Taco Beach at
2099 Bellflower Blvd.
The subject this time isn't
Taco Beach's perceived failure to meet one of the breathtaking array of 30 special conditions imposed upon it but, rather a fairly subdued mural of a surfer in silhouette holding a board and standing on a pile of rocks. LACAN is calling it a "tacky mural that is now the welcoming fixture to our neighborhood. "
Taco Beach (or "
Tacky Beach" as LACAN now calls it) owner Kevan Vance is being typically reasonable about the complaint.
"If someone finds an artist they like more and want to pay for a different mural, we'll be glad to let them put it up. "
FULL ARTICLE LINK:
New Taco Beach restricted from advertising to CSULB
CSULB Daily 49er
Taco Beach is expected to open its second location on the corner of Bellflower Boulevard and Abbeyfield Street, and due to local residents’ response, the restaurant will not be able to advertise to a key demographic: Cal State Long Beach students.
During an October public planning commission meeting, Los Altos residents discussed the approval of the new Taco Beach location’s conditional liquor permit. John Morris, co-owner of Legends Sports Bar in Belmont Shore, said he attended the meeting to offer moral support to Taco Beach owner, Kevan Vance.
Morris said residents of the Los Altos neighborhood are apprehensive of the new business because they don’t want students to be drunk and disorderly in their neighborhood.
A Mexican restaurant featuring a full ball and happy hour deals, Taco Beach has another location on Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach and is open from 11 to 2 a.m. every day.
The planning commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new Taco Beach’s liquor permit, on the condition that Vance doesn’t advertise to CSULB students for one year, Morris said.
According to the City of Long Beach’s Communication Assistant Jackie Medina, the Taco Beach liquor permit was approved with conditions and restrictions the restaurant must abide by.
She also said that if the site or property — whether it continues as Taco Beach or another establishment — is used as a restaurant licensed to sell alcohol, the conditions of the license will still apply.
“The business is approved to open but with specific conditions that the owner/operator agrees to comply with,” Medina said via email. “The condition prohibits the marketing of Happy Hours and promotions. It is the owner's responsibility to ensure that the marketing/advertising of the business is in compliance with this condition.”
Recently, Vance put up an advertisement on Craigslist, seeking employees for the new location. He had initially listed CSULB as Taco Beach’s location, but Morris said residents called the City of Long Beach and complained that Vance was advertising to CSULB. The Taco Beach owner was then asked to take down the advertisement.
“It just goes to show you that the neighbors are watching,” Morris said. “It’s unbelievable. I have my enemies, and I have the people who love me. I could care less. I just think it’s unbelievable the way they treat people. It’s beyond belief.”
Although the business is restricted from advertising to CSULB, students said they think the restaurant only enhances the area.
“The business should be allowed to be opened because there are already venues on campus that serve alcohol,” Kevin Argueta, a freshman political science major, said. “Citizens should not be selfish and should allow the CSULB area to be more of a college student environment.”
Vance and Los Altos residents did not respond to the Daily 49er’s requests for comment.
As of now, there is no current information on the new Taco Beach’s opening date.
LINK TO STORY:
