Metro Council considers allowing beer at Taco Mamacita

Owners of Taco Mamacita just want to sell some Pabst Blue Ribbons.

The popular new restaurant, situated in the hip Edgehill Village development, can serve all the tequila, rum and even high-alcohol-concentrated beer it wants. Traditional beer, however, is off limits.

The contradiction exists because state law governs the sale of liquor and other drinks with a 5 percent or greater concentration of alcohol, while Metro law regulates the sale of beer.

According to Metro Council Attorney Jon Cooper, Metro law prohibits the sale of beer in establishments within 100 feet of residential areas. Under state law, there are no distance regulations for the sale of liquor, he said.

Taco Mamacita happens to sit about 90 feet from the nearest house. But restaurant owners are hoping to add beer to the drink menu, and are working with Councilwoman Erica Gilmore, who has sponsored an ordinance that would excuse the restaurant from the beer distance rule.

The bill is set to go before the council on third and final reading at its next meeting, April 20.

“We constantly get people asking for domestic beer or Mexican beers,” said Taco Mamacita manager Whitney Manahan. “Another reason we would like (to sell beer) is it fulfills some of our specialty drinks that we have available.”

One of those drinks, known as the “Durty Sanchez,” offers up a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon as a chaser for a tequila shot. The drink is popular in Taco Mamacita’s sister restaurant in Chattanooga, but isn’t allowed in Nashville.

Last month, the council at the request of Gilmore opted to defer the Taco Mamacita bill for two meetings.

Gilmore said permitting the sale of beer at the restaurant is supported by most of the community, but a few neighbors worry beer would attract more patrons, which could make parking an issue in the area. She said the measure has also drawn some concern from members of nearby Edgehill United Methodist Church.

Gilmore said right now it’s all a matter of “hashing it out” between concerned neighbors and the restaurant, but she anticipates keeping the ordinance on the council agenda for next meeting.

“We’re going to move forward (with the bill),” she said. “It’s a good restaurant, a nice environment and it has promoted more activity over there, which is important.”

Clearing beer-sale obstacles is nothing new for neighborhood restaurants.

There was a time when the East Nashville restaurant and bar, The Family Wash, was restricted to the sale of liquor and high-alcohol concentrated beer. Through a council ordinance, The Family Wash was authorized to sell beer two years ago.