The state has yanked the liquor license of a popular East Village bar where cops found the exits locked and more than 40 well-heeled teens — one only 15 years old — quaffing “monster margaritas” and mojitos.
The Jan. 30 raid on Dahlia’s Fine Mexican Cuisine on East Fifth Street resulted in an “emergency suspension” Tuesday, the State Liquor Authority told The Post. The restaurant and bar was previously known as Mary Ann’s, officials said.
Cops from the 9th Precinct arrived at Dahlia’s after receiving a 911 call reporting underage drinking. At the crowded bar, they documented that 43 patrons were younger than 18, including five 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old.
Most of the teenage drinkers were from monied Westchester suburbs like Scarsdale and Larchmont, officials said. None had been asked for ID.
The “emergency” suspension was ordered by members of the SLA, Chairman Vincent Bradley and Commissioner Kevin Kim at a regular meeting of the full board on Tuesday. Effective immediately, no alcohol can be served or consumed on the premises.
Dahlia’s touts its marinated chicken fajita and shrimp quesadilla, but the real draw, according to some patrons, was not on the menu: bartenders willing to serve minors.
“This place is known for serving young teenagers. Don’t support them. It’s an extremely irresponsible practice,” reads a Yelp review from a Brooklyn user.
The bar is “full of underage drinkers who are wasted. Some of them look as young as 13. They never ID anyone,” another says.
On Feb. 12, the SLA formally charged the bar with 55 violations, including sales to minors, failure to supervise, exceeding maximum capacity and having locked doors.
Under the suspension, the business, run by Vargomez Corp., can remain open to serve food but not booze.
The holder of the liquor license, Huascar Then, and five servers — Elvis Lantigua, Freddy Garcia, Diana Then, Ari Delacruz and Angelica Rada — were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, unlawfully dealing with a child and criminal nuisance, SLA officials said.
Huascar has been operating out of the East 5th Street site since December 2011.
Formerly called Mary Ann’s, Huascar filed a certificate of assumed name back in 2013 and is now recognized as Dahlia’s, SLA officials said.
A newly painted sign in March 2014 announced the name change to patrons.
“In addition to demonstrating a total disregard for the law by blatantly catering to minors, this licensee further jeopardized the health and safety of these young patrons by crowding them into a locked bar to avoid detection by law enforcement,” Chairman Bradley said.
“The SLA will not tolerate these illegal, flagrant and dangerous violations.”
The SLA’s decision to summarily suspend a license is not a final determination on the merits of the case. The licensee is entitled to an expedited hearing before an administrative law judge.