Landmark Blues Club May Get Liquor License
A legendary South-Central Los Angeles blues club that is reopening in Leimert Park next week will probably be allowed to serve alcohol.
Babe and Ricky’s Inn, the last remaining blues club of the once-thriving Central Avenue music scene, won a unanimous recommendation Tuesday from the Los Angeles City Council, which has suggested that state authorities issue a liquor permit to the once-popular nightspot. The club, which has hosted such blues giants as Little Walter, Albert King and John Lee Hooker, will reopen Aug. 15 on Leimert Boulevard, barring unusual action by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Under a California law adopted in 1994, a liquor license would be denied to any business “located in an area that already has a undue concentration of liquor licenses” or that is situated in an area that has a crime rate 20% higher than the citywide average. However, a local governing body can override the restrictions and allow the liquor license.
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