AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law a bill that ensures restaurants can offer drink specials and live entertainment even though they don’t have bar licenses.
The measure arose from disputes between restaurants and state Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commissioner Murphy Painter.
Painter has fined businesses with restaurant licenses, claiming they operate as bars because they have drink specials or shut down kitchens and have live music.
The new law, sponsored by Shreveport Sen. Lydia Jackson, will allow such establishments to keep their restaurant licenses if they meet requirements that include drawing at least half their income from the sale of food and nonalcoholic drinks.
Critics say that will open the door to neighborhood restaurants operating as bars.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]