Loading ...Busted
Posted by Foobooz on December 8th, 2008
Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting story regarding three Philadelphia bars getting busted for serving alcohol without a valid liquor license. Often times it is the bartender and not the owner who winds up getting arrested.
One of the bars, Old City’s Triada was caught substituting cheap vodka for top shelf stuff.
At the Triada lounge in Old City where four bartenders and an owner were arrested Friday for serving without a license, police noted that the bar menu listed $200 for a bottle of Absolut and $450 for a bottle of Grey Goose. But in the back room, investigators said, they found empty bottles of the premium vodka near full bottles of Banker’s Club, a rot-gut vodka purchased for $7 in New Jersey.
Sgt. William La Torre of Liquor Control Enforcement said he questioned the owner, Gregory J. Wright, who told him he substituted the cheaper liquor because “times are tough.”
Three unlicensed Philadelphia bars raided [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Triada [MySpace]
December 8th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
What i don’t get is why they would do that for such a low amount of money… the mark up on bottle service is high anyway. So If they buy grey goose by the case they are probably spending 25 dollars a bottle and selling it for 400 but if they are buying bad vodka for 7 bucks a bottle they are only making (25-7) 18 dollars per bottle service is not much… they are dumb… times are not that tough
December 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Sundeep, I was thinking the same thing!
Why would you cheat your customers for so little when you could probably just sell the bottle for $425 instead of $400? Obviously the type of person who buys a $400 bottle of liquor isn’t that value-minded, but at the same time spending $400 had better get them what they are paying for!
December 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
$400?! I get upset when I have to pay $7 for a PBC beer!
December 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Its dumb all around. And if a person is willing to pay that insane amount of money and can’t taste the difference between Bankers and top shelf, they deserve to get ripped off. You don’t have to have a sensative palate to tell the difference. Its not subtle.
Meg–where the heck are you paying $7 for a PBC beer? I got complaints about charging $4 for PBC.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
umm…i think the faux grey goose was used for people ordering grey goose martinis, not only for table service.
if so, that really does up the price margin…and i know many a drinker who asks for specific liquors but couldn’t actually tell the difference. The power of suggestion (it comes from a grey goose bottle, this is a classy looking joint) is powerful.
In a blind taste test…definitely should tell the difference. but in a setting that seems legit, I’d bet a lot of people could fall for the fake stuff.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I’m willing to bet those people who can’t tell the difference between top shelf and rot-gut can spot a fake prada bag a mile away.
I’m just busting your chops, Rory. You’re right. Many people can’t tell the difference. A dash of triple sec makes bankers almost tolerable. So in mixed drinks I’ll give people the benefit of a doubt. But out of a bottle or just straight? No pass.
December 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
oh, yeah, out of the bottle, one would hope they could notice a difference. Then again, a lot of people getting bottle service do it for the attention and conspicuous consumption, not out of any sense that “I like the taste of goose”.
(and sadly, yes, some of them probably would pass the prada bag test!)
the wiis are coming in soon, right? I’m gonna have to head back over to the institute, even in the miserable cold.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Its on the calander here. send me an email if you’d like to come to the preview night.