Montrose Starbucks stirs up worry with request to serve beer and wine

The Starbucks in Montrose is looking to serve beer and wine alongside its longtime staples of mochas and lattes.

Since 2010, the coffee giant has offered alcohol at select locations throughout the country and nine, so far, in the Los Angeles area under what’s been branded “Starbucks Evenings.”

The chain stated in a release last month that 70% of its customers drink wine, compared to 30% of the general U.S. public.

Starbucks applied for an administrative-use permit from the city to sell beer and wine in the afternoons out of its location at 2284 Honolulu Ave.

The Community Development Department is scheduled to render its decision on Tuesday.

If approved, it would next have to get a beer-and-wine license from California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

But members of Montrose’s Shopping Park Assn. say they feel they’ve been left out of the loop and have unanswered questions about how alcohol would be served.

Steve Pierce, the association’s communications administrator, said Starbucks won’t have typical waiter service, where an employee brings a drink to a customer like at other Montrose restaurants.

Instead, it will be picked up at the counter by the customer, and one of his concerns is a glass of beer or wine being handed off to a minor.

“You get your beer at the counter and then you go sit down and what happens after to that beer after you leave the counter is anyone’s guess,” he said.

A glass pour, however, won’t be left at the pickup counter by a barista like a coffee drink would, said Keith Glassman, owner of Glassman Planning Associates, a consulting firm hired by Starbucks to assist in the application process.

“Your name won’t be called it. It has to be handed to a person,” he said.

And that handoff comes after the person ordering has shown identification that they are the legal drinking age of 21 or older, Glassman said.

All employees must also be 21 or older if the change is made, he said. Glassman added that alcohol would be stored behind the counter.

Thee Elbow Room owner Crystal Arguelles, whose business serves beer and wine, said she wasn’t in support of Starbucks becoming her competition. Her staff is trained and certified by the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

“There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with that,” she said.

Starbucks employees will receive training, Glassman said.

Patrons of age would be allowed to consume beer and wine on the coffee shop’s outdoor patio, he said.

During their rounds through the business’ interior and outdoor areas, workers would make sure the person enjoying a drink is the one who ordered it and ensure no one is overindulging, Glassman said.

The choices of craft beer and wine will range in price from $6 to $12, and there won’t be a happy hour or discounted drinks, he said.

Andre Ordubegian, the shopping association’s president, said he’s upset Starbucks didn’t involve or gather feedback from the close-knit business community during the application process.

“They’re trying to bypass us, and go to the city directly,” he said.

Glassman said he plans to meet with the association in November, after the decision date for the administrative-use permit. He added that the permit is always revocable.

Community development staff members have drafted a recommendation in favor of beer-and-wine sales, stating it’s not expected to negatively impact the neighborhood.