After dozens of complaints, Tacoma Bar’s liquor license suspended

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board has suspended the license of a bar in Tacoma for 180 days, after months of complaints and citations.

The board said this week that it issued an immediate, emergency suspension of An American Tavern’s license because of repeated, willful non-compliance and disregard for public health and safety, The News Tribune reported.

The board also said during that time it will seek to revoke the license permanently.

In total, the board has received 60 complaints about the bar, has issued verbal and written warnings, four administrative violations and $800 in fines.

Use of the emergency suspension is rare, the board said, “reserved only for those cases where the public health, safety or welfare is at risk.” Four other businesses have been issued such suspensions in the past year.

Efforts to reach owner Kyle Bidwell for comment were not immediately successful.

Neighbors reported continued violation of masking, social distancing and general COVID-19 rules for bars and restaurants, in addition to late-night noise and violence in the parking lot. Neighbors also reported seeing highly intoxicated patrons.

The Tacoma Police Department has received dozens of calls to the bar, which is on the ground floor of a residential building.

Bidwell opened the bar in 2018 with Mathew Vierela. Vierela is no longer associated with the bar, he told the newspaper.