Mayoral candidate Gary Schiff garnered some attention at last week's debate when he cited an obscure city position as a reason for overhauling Minneapolis' regulatory code.
"Did you know you can get a job in the city of Minneapolis as a wine inspector?" said Schiff, a City Council member. "Your job is to go to a wine bar, and if a plate of bread doesn't hit the table before that glass of wine, the business gets a $200 citation."
This statement is misleading.
First, the city does not have a position called "wine inspector." Outside of downtown, it employs license inspectors who regulate everything from bars to laundromats, said business licensing manager Grant Wilson.
Second, the only businesses where customers must order food in order to drink alcohol are located far from commercial nodes, usually deep in residential neighborhoods. These so-called "charter" wine licenses (because they are specifically allowed by the charter) are rare.
Most wine bars, such as the new Spill the Wine location on Lake Street, must only make 60 percent of their annual revenue from food. Patrons can drink without eating.
So do inspectors order wine and no food at charter wine license establishments, to see if the restaurant will still serve them?
Wilson said that would be an exceedingly rare situation. It is more likely, he said, that the inspectors would sit in the restaurant as customers and observe whether patrons order meals.
