Inspections combat underage drinking in New Haven

By Megan Alderman-Person

With its close proximity to multiple colleges and more than 250 bars and nightclubs, New Haven is teeming with young people going out for a drink on any given weekend night. While most bars and nightclubs try to regulate their customers, underage drinking still occurs. To combat this problem, the state liquor commission conducts unannounced inspections to make sure both businesses and their customers are complying with the law.

Inspections are a joint effort between the state liquor commission and the city’s police department, according to Dave Hartman, New Haven police spokesman. In past years, the task force team for inspections has also included the fire marshal’s office and health department.

Inspections are rarely completely random, said Hartman.

“If you have a bar and people believe that they’re serving large numbers of students underage, we have gotten complaints from the universities, from parents and from other businesses in the area … that certainly weighs in,” Hartman said.

The general manager of Bar, Frank Patrick, is no stranger to inspections. Bar operates a restaurant by day and bar and nightclub on Thursday through Saturday nights. Because every room in Bar has an actual bar in it, all customers must be at least 21 years old or be accompanied by a parent to enter. In the 13 years that the liquor license has been in his name, Patrick said he has never had a violation during an inspection.

“We have a reputation of being strict with IDs, so we are going to get raided less,” Patrick said. “The police department tends to know what places are trouble places, so they’ll go there more often.”

Inspections often do not happen immediately after a complaint is made. The turnaround time is based on the availability of control agents from the state liquor department, according to Hartman. The agents then contact the police department, which puts together a group of people to supplement its team. However, if it is an issue of public safety, Hartman said, the city will send officers in right away.

These inspections are usually a surprise to the establishments and do not generally follow any pattern. Sometimes, Bar will have inspections a couple of times a year, but other times it will not have an inspection for more than a year, according to Patrick.

“They want to surprise you because there are a lot of bars out there that turn a blind eye to underage drinking,” Patrick said.

During the inspections, no customers are allowed to leave or come in. Patrick said the inspections do not hurt his business, but some of the time, the customers will give the liquor commission’s officers a hard time.

If an underage person is caught drinking during one of the inspections, they will most likely be cited for an infraction for underage drinking, but the establishments face bigger repercussions.

“The immediate responsibility is on the person serving the alcohol to ensure that where the alcohol goes is to someone of appropriate age,” Hartman said.

Meghan Alderman-Person is a senior journalism major at Quinnipiac University. She is writing about food this spring. She can be reached at meghan.alderman-person@quinnipiac.edu.

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Ted’s Restaurant: A family business

**Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated the restaurant has been in Bill Foreman’s family for three generations. Foreman is actually not blood related to the Duberek family; his aunt married Paul Duberek, and Foreman bought the restaurant from Paul.

By Megan Alderman-Person

On busy Broad Street in Meriden, cars are constantly pulling over to a place that has been quietly bustling for more than 50 years. The small sign and side entrance may be easy to miss for newcomers, but it has become a well-known establishment since its opening in 1959. Even with the change in owners, little has changed over time in Ted’s Restaurant and the family hopes to keep it that way.

Ted’s Restaurant in Meriden is finding new ways to expose the world to its unique specialty – steamed cheesburgers. (Megan Alderman-Person photo)

Foreman, leaning on a stainless steel table in a narrow storage room behind the kitchen, explains that family businesses require a lot of work and motivation. Foreman previously worked in the golf business, but took over the restaurant after his uncle, Paul Duberek, had back surgery. While Foreman hopes to keep the business in his family for years to come, Foreman says he is unsure who will take over the business after him.

“It’s tough; it’s a different climate,” Foreman says, while tapping the “ignore” button repeatedly to quiet an incoming call. “You have to be dedicated to what you do. We’re open seven days a week and you always have to be a phone call away.”

Like Foreman, 66 percent of family business owners worry about filling the gaps in their businesses in several years, according to a 2015 family business survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Foreman has a 10-year-old daughter, but his immediate family is not involved in running Ted’s Restaurant.

“It’s really a tough call,” Foreman says. “I would hope that we can keep it going, whether it’s my family or my uncle’s family.”

Paul’s father and the founder of Ted’s Restaurant, Ted Duberek, decided to open a restaurant that specialized in steamed cheeseburgers after seeing them made in the diner where he was working. Although Foreman credits his long-term employees and loyal fan base for Ted’s Restaurant’s continued success, he says he loses business with every new restaurant that opens in the area.

Foreman says it is difficult to keep up with the advertising knowledge that chain restaurants have. The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey again shows that Foreman is not alone, as 47 percent of family businesses say that the need for new technology will be a substantial challenge for them in five years’ time.

Foreman is trying to keep up, and a presence on social media has helped new people find out about Ted’s Restaurant.

Bill Foreman took over the business from his uncle. (Megan Alderman-Person photo)

“How else would you expect someone from Texas to find us, you know, 20 years ago?” Foreman says.

Through their social media accounts, new and old customers can also follow the location of the restaurant’s new food truck, one of the upgrades Foreman has made to the business. Foreman also recently purchased a trailer, which will add to his mobile food fleet.

His two business partners, Scott Backus and Christian Parisi, opened another Ted’s Restaurant in Cromwell nearly five years ago. With these new developments, Foreman says he has never had a moment where he did not think the original Ted’s Restaurant would survive.

“You can’t duplicate the original, whether it’s our business or anyone else’s,” Foreman says. “Hopefully over time, we’ll grow it even more.”

Megan Alderman-Person is a senior journalism student at Quinnipiac University. She is writing about food this spring. She can be reached at megan.alderman-person@quinnipiac.edu.

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