Duplex, Fusion among restaurants fined for illegally buying alcohol

Duplex owes the state $12,842.30.

​The city fined six bars and restaurants for illegal alcohol purchases in the past year, among them Uptown hotspots Duplex and Fusion.

When businesses selling alcohol fall behind on their taxes they are placed on a "liquor posting" by the Minnesota Department of Revenue, which forbids them from buying alcohol. They are allowed to go through their stock but can't restore it until their taxes are paid. Even so, some businesses proceed as if they were not on the state's listing.

The other businesses to receive fines are True Thai Restaurant, El Meson, Dominguez Family Restaurant, and the Independent. True Thai was fined $200 May 2 and $400 August 24. Meson was fined $200 June 21. Dominguez got fined on both March 9 and March 16, $200 each time.

City Pages reported in July that the Independent owed $90,000 in back taxes and was fined $200 on February 24 and $400 May 22.

The Dominguez Family Restaurant owes Minnesota the largest amount of money: $30,955.78 in back taxes. True Thai owes $23,355.97. Duplex owes the state $12,842.30, while Fusion owes $8,663.81. Public records are not available on how much money El Meson owes.

Anna Prasomphol blames it on an employee's mistakes and says she'll fix it soon.

​We called all of the businesses to ask for comment and an explanation of how they fell so far behind on their taxes. Only True Thai owner Anna Prasomphol returned our message. She blamed it on a former employee who overstocked the pantry with $100,000 worth of food and wine. Prasomphol tells City Pages that she got a call from her wholesaler asking why she had bought enough food for "nine restaurants."

"Then they came down, saw everything, and said, 'This doesn't look like a restaurant. It looks like a food warehouse to us,'" Prasomphol said.

Her business has been on the list the longest except for the Independent, which has closed. Prasomphol says she plans to pay her taxes soon.

In addition to calling the businesses that were fined, we called Bryant-Lake Bowl, which was just posted to the list by the Department of Revenue, for comment. Manager Laura Preston directed us to their comptroller, who did not respond to a request for comment.

But Preston did tell us that she was upset by all the attention the liquor posting gets from local media.

"I don't know why it's such a big deal," Preston said. "People get posted all the time. As long as you take care of it and you're not on there for two or three weeks, you're fine."

Which makes sense: Grant Wilson, manager of licenses and consumer services with the Minneapolis Regulatory Services Department, tells City Pages that the city allows a grace period for businesses their first month posted.

"We give them 30 days on the list and then we issue an order to go after them," says Wilson.

You can see the liquor posting here.

Previous coverage:
The Independent owes $90K in back taxes, was fined twice for illegally purchasing alcohol