Irish 31 Restaurant & Bar Coming to Park Ave

Irish 31 Irish Pub (Web | Facebook) is coming to Park Ave in Winter Park at 510 S. Park Ave next door to Rocket Fizz candy shop. It will have 130 seats. Their menu will be a mix of traditional Irish food, vegetarian options, Southern favorites, and classic comfort foods.

They have a specialty: the boxty. Filled with various fillings, it's made by rolling house-made mashed potatoes in a breadcrumb mixture, lightly frying, then baking. They offer the following types of boxtys: ham & cheese, corned beef & cabbage, ultimate and shepherds pie.

The Irish 31 franchise began in Tampa in 2011 at Hyde Park Village. Their facebook description says "Classy, Cozy, Camaraderie. Irish 31 Pub House & Eatery prides itself on a chef driven full menu, full bar, live entertainment – and absolutely the best spot in Tampa to watch your favorite team."

Irish 31 is asking the City for conditional use approval for a Class III liquor license within 1,000 feet of Rollins College. They go before the City of Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board March 6th.

This is where it gets interesting.

City Liquor License Regulations: There are different rules for places with just beer & wine licenses versus those that can serve full liquor. In order to serve full liquor, there are generally two ways to obtain a State and City liquor license to sell any kind of alcoholic beverage within a restaurant. The most common method is to obtain a State 4COP-SFS and City Class III Special liquor license provided that a restaurant is a minimum of 3,000 square feet in size, can serve/seat 150 people and the revenue is at least 51% from food. So along Park Avenue, for example, places like 310/Blu; Luma, Prado, Cocina 214, Bosphorus, Boca, etc. all operate with State 4COP-SFS and City Class III Special liquor licenses. The alternative method for a full liquor license is to obtain the State 4COP and City Class III liquor license. However, those liquor licenses do not require any food sales at all and can be used for bars/lounges, liquor stores, etc.

Effect upon the Proposed Irish 31 Location: In this instance, the proposed Irish 31 at 510 S. Park Avenue has the 3,000 square feet of floor area needed but due to the interior floor plan of kitchen/customer area, they can only fit 130 seats inside and outside on the sidewalk. Thus, without the required 150 seats, it requires the Irish 31 to ask for a City Class III liquor license. However, to obtain a Class III liquor license (because it can be used for bars/liquor stores) the location must be more than 1,000 feet from a church or school. Every location on Park Avenue is within that radius. The functional reality is this requirement reinforces the zoning prohibitions in the CBD which do not allow bars/lounges or liquor stores. As a result, the businesses with liquor licenses in the CBD are restaurants first and foremost and only secondarily cater to “bar” business.

Irish 31 Request: The applicant and property owner understand the City’s Code intention and propose to be a restaurant first and foremost and an Irish Pub secondarily. Looking at the floor plan you will see that there is a small limited number of “bar” seats and the vast majority of seating is at small or communal tables. The floor plan for this location will function primarily as a restaurant. Other information on the Irish 31 brand is at their website: https://irish31.com/

Necessary Conditions of Approval: Since the City Class III liquor license does not require food sales or full menus etc. there need to be conditions of approval that require the operation of this business and any successor at this location to function as a restaurant. Those conditions are outlined below.

Summary: There is no difference to the character of the Park Avenue area from a new 150 seat restaurant with full liquor versus, in this case, a 130 seat restaurant with full liquor. Again the focus is just on conditions to insure that the business is a restaurant first and foremost and understanding that this approval runs with the land so it would apply to other restaurant concepts in this location.

The ham & cheese boxty

510 S. Park Ave

The restaurant will have 130 seats.

They put on drinking parties and events in other cities. Photo Credit: Irish 31Facebook

These are employees. Photo Credit: Irish 31Facebook