UPDATED: Prior Lake restaurant won't appeal liquor license violation

Prior Lake American

Lakers Tavern and Pizza will no longer plead its case during a public hearing before the Prior Lake City Council Monday night in regards to a liquor license violation the restaurant received last December.

The tavern has requested to remove its appeal from the agenda and will agree to the imposed penalty, according to Police Chief Mark Elliott. 

The issue first sprang up after a Prior Lake police officer in plain clothes and a 19-year-old ordered Coors Lite beer as part of an alcohol compliance check. The waitress did not check IDs at any point, according to the police report.

For a first-time liquor violation, such as sale of alcohol to a minor, the fine is $1,000 and a one-day suspension of the liquor license. If there are no similar violations in a year, $500 of the fine can be dismissed, according to the council report.

The city of Prior Lake made the liquor license violation penalties stricter in 2015 in order to align with neighboring cities on similar laws.

Thomas Zimmeth, the owner of Lakers Tavern and Pizza, 15750 Highway 13, had requested a public hearing to appeal the violation, stating that the fine is “very steep” in a letter to the city.

“We were in our first month of being open and were overwhelmed with the response from customers during the first week of being open,” Zimmeth wrote. “(The employee) is very aware of her mistake and will not serve a minor again.”

Zimmeth also said the restaurant has passed other alcohol compliance checks since that time. The server pled guilty to the violation through the court system.

The restaurant will accept the penalty as is, according to the Prior Lake Police Department.