A restaurant in Benque Viejo Town is upset tonight after they had planned an anti-Valentine's-themed promotion, but it was given a red light by the Town Council. The council nixed it because of the hours and the presence of alcohol.
The owner maintains the business holds a valid restaurant license allowing the sale of alcohol with meals and says the establishment has consistently operated as a restaurant rather than a bar.
We spoke with owner Javier Martinez:
Javier Martinez, Owner, Twins/Natty's Restaurant
"Now, I do have a restaurant license, uh, which allows me to sell alcohol with food, which is what ninety-eight percent of our customers do. This is- We've marketed ourselves for years as a restaurant that sells beer, not a bar that sells food. Two totally different things. So we're known for that in Benque. Now, to have just a message, not even a professional courtesy, to come into our business and explain and give me a full detailed explanation of why I cannot have an event that is within my legal right, that is my issue. I'm I mean, we, we're supporting people, different businesses. I have Solani's Rental that is bringing a little bouncy house for the kids. So, uh, what is the issue? What really is the issue? And voicing out because i- it's, it's, it's frustrating that we are trying to do something different. As a business, we- we've come from a very small business to this, and we're trying to, to grow and to offer the people in Benque something different."
Martinez laments that even in a hard business environment, the council is making it much harder for them to survive.
