Judge grants alcohol permits, bans former owner from Main Street Columbia spot
A downtown Columbia restaurant that’s spent more than a year losing customers over not being able to sell wine or cocktails just got the ruling it’s been waiting on: a judge says the state must let Top Tier featuring the Genesis Room sell alcohol — but only under strict conditions that keep its former owner away.
The ruling could be the end to a long-running fight between Top Tier at the Genesis Room, a “luxury dining” restaurant on the 1600 block of Main Street, and the South Carolina Department of Revenue, which has refused to approve alcohol permits the business says it needs to survive.
The restaurant at 1614 Main Street has been stuck unable to sell alcohol since it first applied for those permits in late 2024. The dispute between the business and state regulators came to a head that year, after law enforcement cited the restaurant for selling alcohol without a permit, and after the business’ ownership changed hands despite no money being exchanged.
The Department of Revenue called foul, but after a January hearing during which both sides argued their positions, Administrative Law Court Judge Crystal Rookard has sided with the restaurant. Now the state agency must hand over the permits to Top Tier, which include an on-premises beer and wine permit and a liquor-by-the-drink license.
“At the end of the day, a business gets to survive and gets to thrive,” said Bakari Sellers, a high-profile local attorney who represents Top Tier’s owners. He said he’s glad for Rookard’s decision and believes Top Tier can now be successful. “One of the larger concerns we had is making sure the state government doesn’t stifle the growth of small businesses.”
Sellers said the business could be selling alcohol as soon as the end of this week. He previously said the restaurant has lost “hundreds of thousands” of dollars from not being able to sell alcohol for more than a year.
A back and forth over ownership
Top Tier was first denied alcohol permits after a 2024 incident at the restaurant led to the owner and a manager being cited for illegal alcohol sales, and after the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division seized dozens of bottles and cans from the business.
In November 2024, SLED conducted an undercover operation at Top Tier, sending an 18-year-old with a fake ID into the business. A Top Tier employee served the undercover agent without asking to see her ID. Then, SLED agents realized the business also did not have a permit to sell alcohol.
One of the business’s managers was cited for selling alcohol to a person under 21 years old, and then-owner Norman Harvin was cited for selling alcohol without a permit.
After that instance, the restaurant again filed for alcohol permits but this time without Harvin on the documents. Instead, it listed Claudette Outen, the mother of one of Top Tier’s managers, as the owner. Outen testified in court that she paid nothing to take over the business. Department of Revenue attorney Patrick McCabe questioned that relationship.
“A major red flag would be someone who just takes a business and can’t explain how they got that business … We have seen in the past where people will transfer a business to a third party as a way to avoid a revocation or still remain in control,” McCabe previously told The State. In her decision granting Top Tier its permits, Rookard acknowledged the Department’s concerns but ultimately determined that Sellers had made the case that Harvin was no longer associated with the restaurant, after Sellers argued that Harvin’s name had been removed from the restaurant’s LLC and bank records.
But if the restaurant wants to keep its permits, Harvin must stay away for good.
A condition to the restaurant receiving its alcohol permits is that Harvin is “banned directly or indirectly” from the restaurant.
“While the Court does find the Permit and License should be issued, it is not blind to the concerns raised by the Department,” Rookard wrote in her March 9 decision. Rookard also ordered the business to report any future ownership changes to the Department of Revenue.
If Top Tier violates Rookard’s conditions, the Department of Revenue could have grounds for “suspension, revocation, or monetary penalties,” Rookard also wrote.
A spokesperson for the Department of Revenue said the agency has not yet decided if it will appeal Rookard’s decision.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with a comment from the Department of Revenue.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 4:30 AM.
