FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Restaurant Denied Hard-Liquor License

Responding to a rare request by the Police Department, city officials refused to give the Au Baccara restaurant a license to serve hard liquor.

The current owner took over in late 1988, and indicated that the restaurant would serve lunch and dinner. The following year, the owner got permits for dancing and beer and wine sales. Other additions included armed security guards and a metal detector at the entrance, at 16650 Harbor Blvd.

Police Capt. William DeNisi said the establishment is more a nightclub than a restaurant, but does not have a nightclub permit. Numerous day and evening inspections, he said, which included the kitchen, indicated that little or no food was being served.

A police report alleges that Asian gang members frequent the business, that minors have been served alcohol, and that police have been called to Au Baccara for car thefts, fights, prostitution and lewd conduct.

An interoffice memo from Police Chief Elvin G. Miali stated that Au Baccara “draws an inordinate amount of police service time” and that “the presence and operation of this nightclub within our community will continue to have a serious negative impact on the quality of life in our community.”

The police report also recommended that any further permits up for renewal be suspended. The city has granted permits for live entertainment, dancing, disc jockey entertainment and the sale of beer and wine.

Gilbert Avila, representing the restaurant owner at a Planning Commission meeting, said the restaurant is being targeted unjustly.

“There are some constitutional questions involved here,” he said. “One is whether a young Asian crowd has the right to have a restaurant where they can attend without being all labeled as gang members.”

The police, he said, “are targeting the Asian community. The owner has an impeccable record and is being closely watched by the Fountain Valley Police Department, and I do not think they would hold the same standards for any other restaurant.”

Commissioner Zita Wessa said it was only the second time during her nine years on the commission that she could recall the Police Department requesting a permit denial.

The owner, Nicole Nguyen, has not yet decided whether to appeal to the City Council for the cocktail license, Avila said.