Authored By chloe.morrison

Clyde’s on Main started a 15-day liquor license suspension Monday.

“We are really disappointed in ourselves,” Clyde’s owner Mike Monen said. “We are terribly sorry about this lack of responsibility we displayed.”

A former Clyde’s employee who is no longer with the establishment served someone who was with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, he said. The employee checked the ID but didn’t do the math to see that the person was underage, Monen said.

Mike and his wife, Taylor, own four other local restaurants: Urban Stack, Community Pie, Milk and Honey, and Taco Mamacita. Their policy is that all employees must check identification for anyone who wants to drink in their restaurants.

Employees know that if they violate that policy, they will be fired, Monen said.

“We have a strict approach on that,” he said.

But after getting more into the bar business with Clyde’s and hearing from many customers, the Monens have added an exception to the carding rule.

Although servers and bartenders must check identification for every patron, if a customer refuses to show an ID or forgot their license, the server can alert a manager, who can use their judgment to decide whether the person is clearly of age and whether to serve them, Monen said.

State law only requires that restaurants don’t serve to anyone under age 21. How they choose to enforce that is up to each business. Click here for more about that law and reaction to it from local business owners.

The Main Street bar/restaurant will start serving liquor again Aug. 5 and will serve beer in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the Monens are implementing self-imposed community service.

“For doing wrong, we wanted to give back to the community,” he said.

They will donate 7 percent of Clyde’s sales during their suspension to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. Monen estimated that the donation would be about $10,000.

And in an effort to do something for Clyde’s customers, the restaurant is offering a new beer on tap. They will host a drawing for a bike like the one featured on the New Belgium label in 15 days. Anyone can register to win and no purchase is necessary.

Monen said he and Taylor don’t make excuses for the error.

“We made a mistake, ” Monen said. “We are owning up to what we did.”

Updated @ 11:27 a.m. on 7/23/15.