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The owner of colorful downtown Nevada City bar has to decide between burgers and booze if she wants to stay in business.
Dianna Hill, owner of the Crazy Chief Crazy Horse Saloon and Grill, wants to convert her business from a bar to a restaurant, but is contesting conditions imposed by Alcoholic Beverage Control, the California agency that regulates licensing for both types of establishments.
Hill said the agency has ordered the saloon to stop serving food as a restaurant, and the two sides have been unable to come to terms on what kind of license the Crazy Horse should hold.
Hill sold food up until Aug. 3, but she has cut back the hours of her staff and laid off all kitchen employees as she deals with the licensing issue.
“Let's talk numbers,” Hill said Wednesday. “Last month, I made $7,000 selling food. This month, it's $300 or $400.”
Hill has been fighting to sell food as a restaurant under a Type 47 license from ABC. A Type 47 license allows people of all ages to come into the establishment — key for the music venue Hill wants to have.
But Hill is contesting ABC conditions limiting “audible” noise and the hours in which she can sell alcohol.
She's also been asked to have a uniformed security officer for the bar, something she says was requested by Police Chief Lou Trovato.
“I never said anything like that,” Trovato said. “She just misunderstands something. You ask her for the written conditions. She's just saying stuff.
“I met with her several times,” Trovato continued. “She thinks I'm against her, but I'm not.
She wants the City Council to intercede for her” on restrictions other bar owners deal with.
Trovato points to the former restaurant Dos Banditos, which operated with a Type 47 restaurant license, but promoted itself as a bar.
“It's the same thing,” Trovato said.
Prepackaged or freshly made food
Like other bars, the Chief Crazy Horse has a Type 48 license to sell alcohol, but is limited to admitting only people 21 years old and older.
The license also allows Hill to sell “short order” food, said Lori Ajax, a representative from ABC in Yuba City overseeing the case.
“I think she wanted to have families in there to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Ajax said.
“I don't think right now she could operate that way. Nobody's told her she has to cease serving (food). What we told her is she's got to remain a 48 (bar).”
A letter to Hill from ABC outlined what foods are prohibited in the bar.
“Sandwiches, salads, desserts and similar short orders shall not be sold and served, in accordance with rules prescribed by the department,” according to Section 23039 of the Type 48 license.
That's where Hill argues the particulars.
“What (ABC) said were there are certain types of food I can serve,” Hill said. “They have to be prepackaged. My hamburgers in a basket, they're not really packaged up. Same with the tacos ... I have asked for them to tell me what I can serve in writing. I went out and got a catering business license so I could serve prepackaged foods to my bar.”
Hill has distributed a petition in the community supporting her goals. In it, she stated she was ordered to cease serving food by ABC — something Ajax denies.
Hill has been unable to solicit support from City Manager Gene Albaugh, who has staunchly called this an ABC matter.
Hill sought out the support of the Nevada City Council in July after meeting with Ajax, Albaugh and Trovato. She petitioned them for their support again Wednesday night at the council meeting.
“All she has to do is comply,” Albaugh said Monday.
Colorful beginnings
Hill, who is on a lease that runs through September 2011, has “intimated” to building owner
Vincent Dallugge that she will not renew the lease when it comes up, Dallugge said.
“I've had to reduce the rent and different things to help keep the business going,” Dallugge said.
One bartender at the saloon said her shifts were cut from five days a week to two days a week.
The Chief Crazy Horse was first opened by Ray Dallugge, Vincent's father, in the mid-1960s. The name comes from Ray's eccentricity of dressing up as Chief Crazy Horse, the famous Native American war leader, in local parades. The bar became a music venue in 2006 and started serving food in 2007.
This brouhaha over the food license may be a misunderstanding, said Steve Cottrell, a former mayor and councilman who has been in the local bar business many years.
“Friar Tuck's is a restaurant that happens to have a bar,” Cottrell said. “Cirino's is a restaurant that happens to have a bar. Chief Crazy Horse is a bar that happens to have a restaurant. I think there may be a misunderstanding.”
Dianna Hill, owner of the Crazy Chief Crazy Horse Saloon and Grill, wants to convert her business from a bar to a restaurant, but is contesting conditions imposed by Alcoholic Beverage Control, the California agency that regulates licensing for both types of establishments.
Hill said the agency has ordered the saloon to stop serving food as a restaurant, and the two sides have been unable to come to terms on what kind of license the Crazy Horse should hold.
Hill sold food up until Aug. 3, but she has cut back the hours of her staff and laid off all kitchen employees as she deals with the licensing issue.
“Let's talk numbers,” Hill said Wednesday. “Last month, I made $7,000 selling food. This month, it's $300 or $400.”
Hill has been fighting to sell food as a restaurant under a Type 47 license from ABC. A Type 47 license allows people of all ages to come into the establishment — key for the music venue Hill wants to have.
But Hill is contesting ABC conditions limiting “audible” noise and the hours in which she can sell alcohol.
She's also been asked to have a uniformed security officer for the bar, something she says was requested by Police Chief Lou Trovato.
“I never said anything like that,” Trovato said. “She just misunderstands something. You ask her for the written conditions. She's just saying stuff.
“I met with her several times,” Trovato continued. “She thinks I'm against her, but I'm not.
She wants the City Council to intercede for her” on restrictions other bar owners deal with.
Trovato points to the former restaurant Dos Banditos, which operated with a Type 47 restaurant license, but promoted itself as a bar.
“It's the same thing,” Trovato said.
Prepackaged or freshly made food
Like other bars, the Chief Crazy Horse has a Type 48 license to sell alcohol, but is limited to admitting only people 21 years old and older.
The license also allows Hill to sell “short order” food, said Lori Ajax, a representative from ABC in Yuba City overseeing the case.
“I think she wanted to have families in there to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Ajax said.
“I don't think right now she could operate that way. Nobody's told her she has to cease serving (food). What we told her is she's got to remain a 48 (bar).”
A letter to Hill from ABC outlined what foods are prohibited in the bar.
“Sandwiches, salads, desserts and similar short orders shall not be sold and served, in accordance with rules prescribed by the department,” according to Section 23039 of the Type 48 license.
That's where Hill argues the particulars.
“What (ABC) said were there are certain types of food I can serve,” Hill said. “They have to be prepackaged. My hamburgers in a basket, they're not really packaged up. Same with the tacos ... I have asked for them to tell me what I can serve in writing. I went out and got a catering business license so I could serve prepackaged foods to my bar.”
Hill has distributed a petition in the community supporting her goals. In it, she stated she was ordered to cease serving food by ABC — something Ajax denies.
Hill has been unable to solicit support from City Manager Gene Albaugh, who has staunchly called this an ABC matter.
Hill sought out the support of the Nevada City Council in July after meeting with Ajax, Albaugh and Trovato. She petitioned them for their support again Wednesday night at the council meeting.
“All she has to do is comply,” Albaugh said Monday.
Colorful beginnings
Hill, who is on a lease that runs through September 2011, has “intimated” to building owner
Vincent Dallugge that she will not renew the lease when it comes up, Dallugge said.
“I've had to reduce the rent and different things to help keep the business going,” Dallugge said.
One bartender at the saloon said her shifts were cut from five days a week to two days a week.
The Chief Crazy Horse was first opened by Ray Dallugge, Vincent's father, in the mid-1960s. The name comes from Ray's eccentricity of dressing up as Chief Crazy Horse, the famous Native American war leader, in local parades. The bar became a music venue in 2006 and started serving food in 2007.
This brouhaha over the food license may be a misunderstanding, said Steve Cottrell, a former mayor and councilman who has been in the local bar business many years.
“Friar Tuck's is a restaurant that happens to have a bar,” Cottrell said. “Cirino's is a restaurant that happens to have a bar. Chief Crazy Horse is a bar that happens to have a restaurant. I think there may be a misunderstanding.”
To contact Staff Writer and Online Community Manager Zuri Berry, e-mail zberry@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4244.
