Emily Shepherd
Contributing Writer
eshepherd2@murraystate.edu
Addison Watson
Staff Writer
awatson25@murraystate.edu
The owners of Lucky’s Grill and Pub applied to obtain their tavern license to both the city and state government.
Established in 2017, Lucky’s Grill and Pub is a local restaurant located directly across from Wilson Hall on 15th Street. Their menu carries a variety of food options and a broad array of alcoholic beverages to order.
Chelsea Dreher, the owner of the establishment, currently operates under a license that requires her food sales to equal 50 percent of her total month’s revenue.
A restaurant must maintain 50 percent food sales from its total food and alcohol sales, according to Alcoholic Beverage Control of Kentucky. This was part of a legislative update in 2017.
“Right now I have an NQ2 license, which is a limited retail drinking license,” Dreher said. “This means I have to sell 50 percent alcohol and 50 percent food.”
The NQ2 (non quota) license allows for higher than 50 percent food sales, but alcohol sales must remain at or below 50 percent.
“I can be higher on my food sales, but I can’t be higher on my alcohol sales,” Dreher said. “This gets difficult in an industry controlled simply on impulse.”
Purchasing the license is not cheap. It comes at a hefty price every time Dreher renews it.
“It is around $1000 for each license,” Dreher said. “You renew it in December of every year, but there are different time frames for the licenses. You can buy a half a year license or a full year.”
By obtaining a tavern license, Lucky’s Grill and Pub will be able to operate and have a higher percentage of alcohol sales than food sales. Being in a college town, this will allow Dreher to focus on college students, who she believes is why Lucky’s in business.
To obtain the license, Dreher has to go through a process where her business credentials are examined, and her business is checked to see if it is in good standing with ABC in Kentucky.
“It is a two-part process. I hold a local (Murray) license and then a state (Kentucky) license,” Dreher said. “I have to [have] both simultaneously. I fill out the application, get a background check, have the premise certified, and my LLC is checked to make sure it is in good shape.”
Tap 216 is a neighboring restaurant also located on 15th Street next to the University. They operate under an NQ2 license as well, but will now have the option to obtain their tavern license also.
Dreher said making the 50 percent food sales can be difficult. One time, her fryer was out of service for nearly two months. This caused her to be unable to cook 70 percent of her menu, so she relied on alcohol sales to make up the loss of revenue.
“I couldn’t sell 70 percent of my menu for a month and a half,” Dreher said. “I still had to pay the bills, so I pushed alcohol sales. I got in trouble with ABC, but I got through it.”
Murray has not always been a wet city. Up until 2012, alcohol sales were forbidden in Murray. This meant that anyone wanting to purchase alcohol would have to go to a surrounding county where alcohol was allowed to be sold.
According to the Murray Ledger and Times, only 53 percent of voters who participated in the option-election answered yes, signifying that they were in favor of the sale of alcohol in Murray.
Since the election in 2012, several Murray restaurants have opened and closed, but Dreher is confident her business has survived the hardest times and will be around for years to come.
“The Big Apple Grill has a NQ4 license, a tavern license, where they don’t have a percentage that they have to hit.” Dreher said.“They just have to report their alcohol sales and pay their taxes on that total. Their food is completely separate from their alcohol sales. That’s the license that I’m moving toward acquiring.”
Thursday nights draw a large crowd from the college community that want to visit Lucky’s Grill and Pub. Often times, there are students waiting in line outside the front door because the building is at capacity.
James Hayworth is a senior attending Murray State who frequently dines at Lucky’s Grill and Pub.
“This bar has a really nice atmosphere,” Hayworth said. “The bartenders are always really nice and friendly too.”
Another student attending Murray State, Andy Johnson, prefers Lucky’s Grill and Pub over other establishments because of the building’s ambience.
“This place has a hole-in-the-wall kind of vibe if that makes sense,” Johnson said.
Dreher expects to obtain the tavern license by the end of November and will begin pushing alcohol sales shortly after.