(July 18, 2008)

TAFT-- A new Taft restaurant has opened up and the owner wants to sell alcohol to her customers. If approved, it would be the first restaurant in that town to serve alcohol by the drink.

The restaurant owner wasn't aware restaurants couldn't sell beer and wine to customers in Taft. When she found out, she decided to lobby the city and apply for a license to do that.

It's the first day of business at Y and D Café on Highway 181 in Taft. The owner sells steaks and seafood, but something's not on this menu. beer and wine. The reason: it's against the law to drink alcohol at business locations.

"I think people should have the option, if they want to have the beer and wine with their food," said Dora Henry, the restaurant owner. "Nobody has ever offered that here in Taft. So I am trying to see if I can give them that."

The owner hopes to change that. Henry is applying for a permit to sell alcohol at the restaurant.

"The people have been good , but there have been a few people who have complained, but mostly it's been good," Henry said. 

We asked customers who were eating at the restaurant what they thought.

"As long as people behave and they don't know how to control their liquor and they don't start a fight and stabbings or anything, it should be ok," said Terry Hinojosa, a Taft resident. 

"I think beer goes good with food and a lot of people like it and I think they'll make a go of it," said Jose Garcia, a Taft resident. 

TABC still hasn't decided whether or not to allow the sale of alcohol in the restaurant, but if the agency does, there's still another hurdle, the city of taft.

"We have ordinances on file that allow for alcohol purchases to be consumed off-premise," said Florencio Sauceda, Taft City Manager . "That would have to be changed to on-premised consumption."

Two big hurdles but the owner is confident they can win this battle.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com