As of July 1, it became legal to drink in a bar in the state of Utah simply by showing some proper ID. The days of becoming a member of a bar were over. Despite this legislative victory, Utah is still the hardest state in the country to get bamboozled. Let us count the ways:

• Utah forbids any and all happy hours
• Don't try to order a double anything, since they are banned. So are triples for that matter.
• No cocktail or libation can contain more than 2.5 oz of liquor
• No drink may ever be mixed in front of a restaurant patron
• Sorry Zima fans, no malt beverages allowed.
• Full strenght beer can only be purchased at a liquor store. Bars can only serve near beer with a max of 3.2% alcohol

And you thought the 500' rule sucked. [Time]

The Villager gets word that State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblymember Robin Schimminger's (Buffalo) legislation strengthening the 500-foot rule, passed both branches of the State legislature and were off to Governor Patterson's office for signature. It is expected to happen. David Rabin and Uncle Stevie will now cry in their corn flakes.

In response to Goldbar's automatic gratuity charge, a helpful commenter calling themselves SLA Rep reminds us that this practice is entirely illegal unless an establishment clearly states the policy in writing.

If you realize you have been charged a Gratuity on ANY check that has not been stated clearly in writing that a charge will be given(Re: 8 persons or more at a table) on the menu- IT IS ILLEGAL.
Ask for an ITEMIZED receipt- Keep the receipt, make a copy of it with your Credit Card Statement showing the charge(or cash receipt) and leave a verbal complaint along with a return receipt USPS mailed copy to
A) The Better Business Bureau at (212)533-6200 AND the SLA at (212) 961-8378.
The establishment will get a fine, a written warning, and could induce a visit from the IRS to go over the accounting and Tip procedure.

With so many customers ordering drinks without consulting a menu, it seems that even if Goldbar displays its tipping policy, it is still operating in a grey area. 10 Birdy points to the first person who can mail us a copy of their cocktail menu.

We've heard a lot of funny complaints from community members about liquor license applications, but Luis Santiago from Brooklyn's Community Board 1 may take the cake. In response to veteran restaurateurs Dan Lathroum and Stefan Mailvaganam plans to open a restaurant at the corner of Metropolitan and Driggs,  Luis said, “We are trying to prevent gang activity in the neighborhood. Opening this restaurant with beer and liquor, with teenagers already going crazy here, it’s going to be an even bigger issue. I don’t think it’s a good idea for there to be tables and a cafe out on the sidewalk.” Uh, Luis, fine dining establishments with live jazz normally aren't ground zero for gang activity. What do you think this is, the Shank? [BP via Curbed]

Everyone knows the SLA is messed up, including the SLA, where applications for a new liquor license can take anywhere from six months to a year. The Times digs up some fun facts about one of New York State's most troubled agencies:

• 2,073 licenses were pending as of last week, with 873 of them for more than 3 months
• The Harlem office which handles New York City, LI and Westchester has 9 employees who review applications, 45% of the total employed by the SLA
• The Harlem office regulates 65% of the permits

Simple calculations show that the SLA represents the bureaucracy at its best. An SLA spokesman tells the NYT, “we are sympathetic to the fact that there are hardships, and there isn’t anyone who wants to see these applications processed more than we do.” One potential bright spot, Governor Patterson is supporting two bills that will allow applicants to serve booze while their application is pending, but we figure the Community Boards will go ape shit over this one. Meanwhile, they still haven't addressed the root cause of the problem, the backwards application process. Maybe next decade.

Have you always wanted to know the In's & Out's of running a responsible restaurant? Then your friends at the SLA and Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association have an offer for you. They will be hosting a seminar, “The ABC’s of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law", tomorrow from 9:30 to 1:00 at the Isabella Geriatric Facility, located at 515 Audubon Avenue in Manhattan. The seminar will covers every aspect of running a respectable restaurant that abides by the laws of the State. Sadly, they have not scheduled a course that tells you how to get a liquor license in 10 steps or less, something that many potential operators would gladly sign up for. Best to figure that one out on your own, we guess.

Rejoice, DBTH readers, for the shit continues to hit the fan in New York's ridiculous Community Board system. First up, we have Butcher Bay's legal assault on Community Board 3, which argues that their flat denial of an upgrade to their beer and wine license was arbitrary and capricious. Next, Page Six gets the scoop this morning that Lisa Daglian was finally booted from her throne as co-chair of the Business & Licenses Committee of Community Board 4, after years of literally making would be club owners kneel at her feet for application approval. These are just the latest in a string of problems coming from the City and State's arcane application process. Our suggestion is to scrap the entire system, and put power in a City agency to give an up or down approval of a full liquor license based on simple criteria. If you are a restaurant, do you comply with X, Y, Z? If yes, congrats. Bars and nightclubs would have different criteria, but follow the same process. Let's remove this matter from the State and Community Board process, and help entrepreneurs get going.

For years, Community Boards and the SLA used the 500' rule, which required someone who wants to serve liquor within 500 feet of three or more other establishments that serve liquor to attend a hearing and prove it would be in the public’s best interest, to help deny numerous operators from gaining a permit. But a little known ruling from 2008 judged that the SLA had been wrongly applying the rule, saying that the rule applied only to establishments within the same category. The State Legislature may take up the matter soon, hoping to draft a law that will more resemble the "4 licenses within 500'" spirit, but as of now, it's open season.  The takeaway? There has never been a better time to get a permit in what's known as an over-saturated area, because the SLA still has no clue what type of license each venue should have. Go! [Downtown Express]