The doors are locked at The Carrisa in downtown San Luis Obispo and a notice in the window explains the restaurant's alcohol license has been suspended.
The temporary closure is related to Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) violations in 2021 and 2022 when The Carrisa was operating as a nightclub.
Hamish Marshall, co-owner of The Carrisa, says they have had a few incidents over the years in which police were called and those incidents were reported to and investigated by the ABC.
The claims were for underage drinking, complaints about loud music, and a dispute out front.
Marshall says while they fought the claims and initially won, the ABC appealed, and rather than continuing to fight it, they decided to take a suspension and shut down for 25 days.
“They need to make sure there's no underage drinking, especially in a small city like this,” said local John Ensor.
Joseph Ramon works at a jewelry store down the street and says The Carrisa always brought more foot traffic to their store.
“We do miss a lot of the foot traffic because we do have a lot of people waiting for their reservations and surprisingly, they don't know they were in the market for jewelry,” Ramon said.
However, being a new dad this year, he also understands the need to enforce the rules.
“We want to protect our next generation and if this is what it is, we have to set the bar somewhere. As much as we want to be a community, we have to protect our community as well,” Ramon said.
This is not the first time The Carrisa has been forced to temporarily close. The restaurant’s liquor license was also suspended six years ago.
This time, The Carrisa will reopen on April 1, according to Marshall, who adds that there will be no employee layoffs.
