Judge upholds Five Points bar liquor licenses despite challenge
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A judge reaffirmed her previous rulings allowing Five Points bars to keep liquor licenses
- A resident asked the judge to reconsider her earlier ruling granting the bars licenses
- Bars operate under agreements requiring ID scans, cameras, food ads and compliance walks.
Two Five Points bars will keep their licenses to sell alcohol despite a repeat challenge from a nearby resident, after a judge declined to reverse a previous ruling allowing the bars to operate.
It’s the latest in an ongoing skirmish over Five Points’ identity, which has teetered between being the college-centric nightlife hub it’s been known as for years, and a fresh-faced “daytime” district geared toward professionals and other adults.
Judge Crystal Rookard of the South Carolina Administrative Law Court issued two orders Friday denying motions asking her to reconsider her earlier rulings allowing Group Therapy and 5 Points Saloon to be granted licenses to sell liquor by the drink. Nearby resident and former president of the Wales Garden Neighborhood Association Coley Frank Adams filed the motions asking Rookard to reconsider whether the two bars should be allowed to serve alcohol after Rookard in December ordered the S.C. Department of Revenue to renew the bars’ liquor-by-the-drink licenses.
The dispute stretches back to July 2024, when the bars filed to renew their permits but were blocked that same month by a protest from Adams and his attorney, fellow Wales Garden resident Dick Harpootlian.
Harpootlian is one of the leading architects of the current state of Five Points. The high-profile local attorney has over recent years helped challenge the alcohol permits of at least half a dozen Five Points bars, and his firm played a role in the 2021 closure of local favorites Moosehead Saloon and Pavlov’s, both in Five Points.
The legal challenges have led to new safety measures at the bars, and increased accountability over their operations. For example, both Group Therapy and 5 Points Saloon have agreed to tighter ID checks, including scanning IDs, along with maintaining security cameras and keeping footage for a set period, and working with law enforcement on compliance walk-throughs. In the 5 Points Saloon case, the agreement also says that if the bar advertises, a substantial portion of its advertising must be devoted to food rather than alcohol.
Harpootlian did not respond to a request for comment from The State by press time, but he has previously said the Five Points bar cases could set the stage to eventually bring specific issues to the South Carolina Supreme Court or Court of Appeals, according to past reporting by The Post and Courier.
Five Points resident asks judge to reconsider
Adams’ 2024 protest against the bars centered on two related concerns: the broader impact of alcohol service on the surrounding neighborhood, and whether the businesses meet South Carolina’s requirement that liquor-by-the-drink licenses be tied to places “primarily and substantially” engaged in preparing and serving meals — not just selling drinks.
Group Therapy, located at 2107 Greene St., and 5 Points Saloon, or just The Saloon, at 812 Harden St., are operating under restriction agreements with the state that include food-related provisions — Group Therapy’s agreement requires offering menu items for sale and delivery, and 5 Points Saloon’s agreement says that if it advertises, a substantial portion of its advertising must be devoted to food.
In his request to Rookard, asking her to reconsider her December rulings, Adams argued the judge didn’t “substantively discuss, address, or rule on” what he called the primary issue in the case, specifically about what state law requires regarding food service at the bars.
Rookard acknowledged the critique, but noted that Adams could not testify about any direct experience of the bars’ operations. Adams previously told the court he had not been inside Group Therapy in 10-15 years.
In both cases, the Department of Revenue said the bars otherwise met the legal requirements to be given the alcohol licenses and that the licenses would have been renewed if not for Adams’ protest. Rookard wrote that the protest, standing alone, was not enough to block renewal without evidence showing the locations were unsuitable or that renewing the licenses would harm the public interest.
In her Friday rulings saying she would not reconsider the cases, Rookard wrote that Adams’ request mostly rehashed arguments she had already considered and did not show good cause to reverse the December rulings.
This is not the first time Harpootlian and area residents have challenged Group Therapy’s liquor license renewals. His firm also went after the beloved local bar in 2020, but a judge ultimately ruled in favor of Group Therapy being able to renew its license.
The bar has been an iconic part of Five Points since the late 1970s. In 2016, legendary former Gamecocks quarterback Steve Taneyhill purchased the bar. Taneyhill died at the end of 2025 and his friends and family held a celebration of life at the bar earlier this year.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
