State Liquor Authority cancels beer license at troubled Sabor Latino restaurant-turned-nightclub

Sabor Latino, a Route 58 restaurant that’s been the scene of numerous disturbances and police incidents, has had its liquor license canceled by the N.Y. State Liquor Authority.

The cancellation, effective Dec. 29, was issued by the liquor authority board on Dec. 16, acting on the findings and recommendation of an administrative law judge who conducted an Oct. 15 hearing on a long list of charges against the licensee.

The licensee, Rivera Gomez Inc., or its attorney, did not appear at either proceeding, the date and time for which had been scheduled in advance with the company’s attorney, according to the decision.

Porfirio Rivera, a principal in Rivera Gomez Inc., said yesterday at Sabor Latino that he believed all of the issues that led to more than two dozen charges by Riverhead Police and SLA investigators, “were taken care of.” He said he was unaware of the restaurant’s liquor license being canceled.

Sabor Latino has a license to serve beer in conjunction with and incidental to the operation of an “eating place.” The license also allowed the sale of beer for off-premises consumption.

The judge and board of commissioners found that the licensee was operating a tavern/night club, in violation of state alcoholic beverage control regulations as well as Riverhead Town code.

Tavern employed women to entertain male patrons
Sabor Latino employed women “to induce male patrons…to purchase alcoholic beverages,” according to the decision, a copy of which was obtained from the State Liquor Authority by RiverheadLOCAL. Tables inside the dining room were moved to create a dance floor, a juke box and DJ booth had been placed inside. A pool table was also in the room, which was used for playing pool and dancing, according to testimony at the October hearing by Riverhead police officers.

The establishment, to which police were called 49 times during the past two years — 32 times for disturbances within — had become “a focal point of police attention,” the judge ruled.

On Aug. 7, police responded to reports of a disturbance at the establishment, where three women from Roosevelt said they’d been assaulted by two men, one of whom was armed with a baseball bat. According to the SLA judge’s decision, the women were employed by Sabor Latino “to drink and talk with male customers.” They described injuries resulting from being hit with a bat and a belt.

That was not the first violent incident to take place at Sabor Latino. It was the last place 29-year-old Mirian Yohanna Garcia Mancilla of Aquebogue was seen alive on May 6, 2012. She had gone there with friends, according to family members. The next morning, her body was found in the wooded area adjacent to the restaurant. Guillermo Alfonso Alvarado Ajcuc strangled her to death with a belt as he raped her in the woods outside the bar, according to prosecutors; he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life .

The bar was also the scene of a brawl in April 2012 — one week before the murder — that sent several men to the hospital.

The restaurant also had a grease fire in the kitchen in February that required the intervention of Riverhead Fire Department. Improper maintenance and cleaning of kitchen appliances and fan hoods were among the findings of the SLA judge during the October hearing.

Riverhead police, code enforcement officers, and the fire marshal testified to an exhaustive list of conditions on the premises that violated building and fire codes, as well as SLA regulations, including:

• infestation of rodents and insects;
• kitchen fan hoods dripping with grease;
• an empty fire extinguisher;
• missing electrical cover plates;
• unshielded cables;
• improper wiring;
• blocked exits;
• broken fire sprinkler heads;
• missing signs regarding prohibited alcohol sale to minors;
• failure to maintain business records; and
• accumulation of rubbish;

Riverhead police, code enforcement officers and the fire marshal issued numerous notices of violation and court appearance tickets to the operators during two inspections of the premises in August. The status and/or outcome of those proceedings was not discussed by the SLA judge and was not immediately known.

“Riverhead is very helpful to local businesses, but when a local business like Sabor Latino conducts itself like they did, we are tough in our enforcement,” Supervisor Sean Walter said. “Kudos to our police department for building the case against this establishment, which is something that has to be done carefully and over time,” he said.

Riverhead Police Sgt. Ron Atkinson, Police Officer Richard Freeborn, code enforcement officer Richard Downs and fire marshal James McLaughlin testified at the Oct. 15 hearing before the SLA administrative law judge Nicholas DeCesare in Mineola. DeCesare issued his decision Nov. 17. The SLA board of commissioners took action on Wednesday, Dec. 16.