The Shaggy's on Main tale today by Rachel Kipp is an interesting read.
Got to say when I heard about the closing earlier this week I made a few calls.
Shaggy’s seafood restaurant was opened in 2005 by Joe Van Horn, former general manager of the Columbus Inn, and Kid Shelleen's in Wilmington; and his then partners David Dietz, who ran the Brandywine Brewing Co, and David Peterson, the former Columbus Inn executive chef.
Dietz was only involved in the business for 90 days. Peterson departed last year and moved to Florida.
Got to say when I heard about the closing earlier this week I made a few calls.
Shaggy’s seafood restaurant was opened in 2005 by Joe Van Horn, former general manager of the Columbus Inn, and Kid Shelleen's in Wilmington; and his then partners David Dietz, who ran the Brandywine Brewing Co, and David Peterson, the former Columbus Inn executive chef.
Dietz was only involved in the business for 90 days. Peterson departed last year and moved to Florida.
(That's Dave Peterson in the photo in the left. He participated in the 2005 "Wawa challenge" where we gave him cash and challenged him to make a meal from food he bought from Wawa. Dave did a great job.)
Basically, Shaggy’s was a place in Newark that got a restaurant license and then acted like a bar. (You can't get a tavern license in Newark.) Not serving enough food and basically being a bar didn’t fly with tobacco and alcohol enforcement agents and it apparently didn’t go down with police.
According to state law, a "substantial" portion of a restaurant's income must come from sales of food rather than beer, wine or liquor.
Yet, restaurants make a lot of money from alcohol sales so I wondered if a food versus alcohol sales crackdown was in the air.
“When you start becoming a problem and draw our attention, that’s when we get involved,” said Daniel Kline, director of the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, which enforces state liquor laws. "We never want to put someone out of business.”
Kline said when Shaggy’s received a liquor license, owners said it would be a high-end seafood restaurant.
But Kline found out that was not the case.
“Everything revolved around a bar. They were not acting like a high-end seafood restaurant in any shape or form,” he said.
Van Horn said his business was “very seasonal” and began to depend on students from the nearby University of Delaware campus. “We did well during the school year. We sucked in the summer,” he said.
Restricitions were placed on Van Horn and he said by December 2007 sales were down 78 percent from the previous year.
Van Horn said he had no choice but to close the restaurant on New Year's Eve.
Basically, Shaggy’s was a place in Newark that got a restaurant license and then acted like a bar. (You can't get a tavern license in Newark.) Not serving enough food and basically being a bar didn’t fly with tobacco and alcohol enforcement agents and it apparently didn’t go down with police.
According to state law, a "substantial" portion of a restaurant's income must come from sales of food rather than beer, wine or liquor.
Yet, restaurants make a lot of money from alcohol sales so I wondered if a food versus alcohol sales crackdown was in the air.
“When you start becoming a problem and draw our attention, that’s when we get involved,” said Daniel Kline, director of the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement, which enforces state liquor laws. "We never want to put someone out of business.”
Kline said when Shaggy’s received a liquor license, owners said it would be a high-end seafood restaurant.
But Kline found out that was not the case.
“Everything revolved around a bar. They were not acting like a high-end seafood restaurant in any shape or form,” he said.
Van Horn said his business was “very seasonal” and began to depend on students from the nearby University of Delaware campus. “We did well during the school year. We sucked in the summer,” he said.
Restricitions were placed on Van Horn and he said by December 2007 sales were down 78 percent from the previous year.
Van Horn said he had no choice but to close the restaurant on New Year's Eve.
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