Liquor in Lansing

Looking at the city’s biggest spenders

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The area’s top three bars, at least in terms of liquor purchases, are in East Lansing — but Lansing isn’t too far behind. The top 10 liquor purchasers in the tri-county area, according to numbers from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, are split evenly between East Lansing and Lansing. And while East Lansing has the top three spots locked down, Lansing holds the next four.

The nexus of liquor consumption in Lansing is the 300 and 400 blocks of Michigan Avenue. The top three Lansing liquor purchasers are located within this 500-foot span of Michigan Avenue.

Urban dance spot Harem Night Club — which closed earlier this year and reopened in May as country-themed Duke’s Saloon — leads the pack with over $186,000 in liquor purchased last year. The bar’s numbers are certainly bolstered by its sister establishment, the Loft. The second-story concert venue shares a liquor license with its first-story neighbor.

Rounding out the top three are Omar’s Showbar, downtown Lansing’s “gentleman’s club,” and popular downtown bar the Nuthouse Sports Grill. Omar’s has a string of colorful Michigan Liquor Control Commission violations from the 1970s through the late ‘90s, including several charges of entertainers “who performed or simulated performance of” both sexual intercourse and cunnilingus and one charge of “allow(ing) patrons to take an active part in entertainment.” The strip club seems to have cleaned up its act since then — relatively speaking — and boasts only two violations since 2000.

Completing the top five are south Lansing strip joint Centerfolds (formerly Dream Girls) and the Colonial Bar. While the Colonial Bar has a fairly clean record — just two violations since 2000 — Centerfolds/Dream Girls has racked up a laundry list of violations.

A particularly troublesome stretch in January 2009 includes charges of brawls, serving to minors, over-serving intoxicated individuals and obstructing police investigations. The commission also cited the establishment for seven instances of paying for its liquor with checks with insufficient funds.

#1 Harem Night Club (now Duke’s Saloon), 414 E. Michigan Ave.

2014 purchases: $186,550.58 2015 purchases to date: $81,677.22 Notable violations since 2000: None

#2 Omar's Showbar, 316 E. Michigan Ave.

2014 purchases: $128,230.01

2015 purchases to date: $69,969.71

Notable violations since 2000:

  • March 29, 2001 Sold to two minors. Outcome: $1100 negotiated settlement
  • Dec. 3, 2006 Allowed fights or brawls on licensed premises, allowed on the licensed premises the improper use of a firearm, knife or other weapon, allowed the annoying and/or molesting of customers by a noncustomer. Outcome: $300 negotiated settlement

#3 Nuthouse Sports Grill, 420 E. Michigan Ave.

2014 purchases: $93,086.53

2015 purchases to date: $54,469.16

Notable violations since 2000:

  • Jan. 20, 2010 Warning for selling tobacco to a minor.
  • Sept. 24, 2010 Warning for opening prior to noon on Sunday.
  • Sept. 12, 2013 Sold to minor decoy. Outcome: $400 negotiated settlement

#4 Dream Girls/Centerfolds, 5910 S. Pennsylvania Ave.

2014 purchases: $92,259.12

2015 purchases to date: $41,343.70

Notable violations since 2000:

  • March 9, 2006 Allowed fights or brawls on licensed premises, allowed the annoying and/or molesting of customer by another customer, allowed the improper use of firearm on the licensed premises. Outcome: $300 negotiated settlement, two individuals banned from working or being present at the business.
  • Jan. 8, 2009 Allowed fights or brawls on licensed premises, sold to intoxicated person, allowed intoxicated person to consume, allowed intoxicated person to loiter, failed to cooperate with law enforcement officer and/or obstructed a law enforcement officer in the course of inspecting or investigating the licensed premises, allowed the annoying and/or molesting of an employee by a customer, allowed the annoying and/or molesting of an employee by an employee. Outcome: Dismissed.
  • Jan. 19, 2009 Allowed fights or brawls on licensed premises, failed to cooperate with law enforcement officer and/or obstructed law enforcement officer in the course of inspecting or investigating the licensed premises, allowed the annoying and/or molesting of an employee by a customer. Outcome: See Jan. 30, 2009.
  • Jan. 29, 2009 Sold or furnished alcohol to a minor, allowed a minor to consume, sold to an intoxicated person, allowed an intoxicated person to consume, allowed an intoxicated person to loiter, sold, furnished, or allowed consumption of alcoholic liquor or possessed alcoholic liquor on the licensed premises not purchased from an authorized source. Outcome: See Jan. 30, 2009.
  • Jan. 30, 2009 Sold to an intoxicated person, allowed an intoxicated person to consume, allowed an intoxicated person to loiter, allowed fights or brawls on licensed premises, failed to cooperate with law enforcement officers in the course of inspecting or investigating the licensed premises. Outcome: $2,711.50 negotiated settlement (combined with Jan. 19 and Jan. 29, 2009)
  • July 29, 2009 Warning for failure to properly sign and post license and permits and for giving away prizes in excess of $250 without Michigan Liquor Control Commission approval.
  • Oct. 8, 2013 Allowed the improper use of a firearm, knife or other weapon on the licensed premises, allowed fights/ brawls on the premises, failed to cooperate and/or obstructed law enforcement officers in the course of inspecting or investigating licensed premises. Outcome: Hearing postponed.

#5 Colonial Bar, 3425 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

2014 purchases: $86,660.36

2015 purchases to date: $43,106.09

Notable violations since 2000:

  • June 9, 2004 Allowed unlawful gambling with NASCAR pool sheets and horse racing pool sheets on licensed premises, allowed unlawful gambling devices. Outcome: $600 negotiated settlement.
  • Dec. 6, 2007 Sold to a minor. Outcome: $612.07 fine

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