License suspended for troubled Vista establishment Jay’s Bar & Grill
For the next 10 days, the Vista will be less busy following the temporary closure of Jay’s Bar & Grill, which documents show has a history of underage drinking and disorder in the heart of Columbia’s arts district.
On Instagram, the bar announced its closure in the middle of the busy holiday season, saying the closure was needed for minor construction and to repair water lines.
But the closure also coincides with a ruling from by an administrative law court judge suspending the bar’s beer and wine permit and liquor license after finding that the bar repeatedly sold alcohol to underage customers.
John Alphin, a lawyer representing the bar’s owner, Jay Kalin, confirmed that the bar’s license would be suspended until Dec. 15 and that they had paid a $26,000 fine.
In a ruling issued in November, the bar was ordered to temporarily close after it was found that the bar had repeatedly served alcohol to underage customers, including to an underage individual working with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
An investigation by The State newspaper also revealed a long running pattern of disorder. Between November 2022 and April 2024, the Columbia Police Department logged 22 incidents at the bar. Between January 2023 and June of this year, 162 calls to 911 were made to 902 Gervais St., the address for Jay’s Bar and Grill. Several other businesses are also located at that address, but Columbia police said the majority of calls were related to Jay’s.
“This is atypical for the other establishments in the Vista,” Michael Crowley, an inspector with the Columbia Police Department, told The State.
The license suspension for the unusually troubled bar comes at a moment of uncertainty for Columbia’s popular nightlife scene. Several bars in the Five Points area have faced similar license suspensions, and many more are in danger of closing due to the rising costs of liquor liability insurance. A controversial law requires bars in South Carolina to carry $1 million in liability insurance.
The bar is owned by Jay Kalin, a Columbia entrepreneur who also owns Jay’s Vape and Wellness Center, a popular smoke and vape shop near the University of South Carolina’s Greek Village. But incident reports obtained by The State describe Kalin as attempting to interfere with law enforcement investigations into his bar.
Court records show that during the two years the bar has been operating, SLED has issued 80 citations to patrons for alcohol or ID violations, including two to individuals under the age of 18.
Administrative Law Court Judge Robert Reibold, who issued the ruling in the case, ordered the bar’s alcohol license be suspended for 35 days and ordered the bar to pay a $1,000 fine. But Reibold also gave the option for the bar’s operators to reduce the suspension to 10 days if they paid an additional $25,000.
Reibold’s ruling came after Kalin protested a determination by the state Department of Revenue, which administers alcohol licenses, that the bar’s license be suspended for 45 days.
On Dec. 13, 2023, SLED issued a citation to Jay’s Bar & Grill after a 19-year-old working with the agency was allowed to purchase a beer. The teen’s ID was not scanned at the door or checked by the bartender, according to court records. Another staff member looked at the South Carolina driver’s license but the teen was allowed to purchase a Michelob Ultra while being observed by an undercover SLED officer, code-named “Agent Almond” in court documents.
On other occasions, Jay’s Bar & Grill was also cited for selling alcohol during restricted hours and selling liquor in 1.75 liter containers.
After SLED agents issued the citation, the bartender and doorman were fired, according to court documents, and another doorman was suspended without pay.
Court documents describe Kalin as both “confrontational and uncooperative” with law enforcement while being “extensively involved” in the day-to-day management of the bar until March of this year.
But bar staff have taken considerable steps to improve operations, including purchasing forensic scanners, retraining staff, lowering the number of patrons who can be admitted, adopting a policy of placing wristbands on guests to confirm their ages have been verified and modifying the low fencing around the edge of the bar into a full wall to prevent people from bypassing ID checkpoints, according to court records.
Michael Hyland, the bar’s current general manager, indicated that Kalin was aware of corrective actions that could have been taken to address the bar’s issues but “did not see the need for such actions and did not empower staff to take such actions,” according to court records.
While Reibold considered these changes to be positive improvements, he noted that they only took place after the state Department of Revenue notified the bar they agency intended to suspend the license.
In crafting his order, Reibold stated that the goal was not to punish Kalin, but ensure that the bar would comply with the law.
Reibold also said he was “cognizant” that a long suspension would result in loss of employment for employees of Jay’s who were not responsible for the bar’s noncompliance.
By all accounts, the bar is a large enterprise. In court records, Reibold wrote that the bar currently employs 42 people and has monthly payroll expenses ranging between $40,000 and $60,000.
Jay’s Bar & Grill will reopen on Dec. 16 at 8 p.m., according to its Instagram page.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 12:20 PM.