Critics, Nicky Rottens Compromise: Eatery Gets New Liquor License

Could it be a new beginning?

After months of often ugly bickering, Nicky Rottens Bar & Burger Joint and its unhappy neighbors finally have found some common ground.

A compromise led to the eatery being granted a liquor license that will allow the owners to fulfill a long-planned goal: To be able to serve food to minors anywhere in the restaurant, which was once a tavern, while also offering alcohol to adults.

The license was granted after a four-hour state administrative hearing Wednesday, held at the Coronado library. All parties must sign off on the agreed-to conditions before it is finalized.

The deal didn’t surprise officials from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency.

“This is not unusual. It happens all the time,” said Jennifer Hill, director of ABC’s San Diego office.

For more than a year, Nicky Rottens has been operating under a license the owners obtained when they bought the site of the former Island Saloon.

It was an adults-only license and it didn’t apply to the spaces the restaurant expanded into, including the one-time former laundromat or the patio area that opens to Orange Avenue.

The license was granted at a hearing that had originally been called to review ABC's decision to deny the eatery's request for an altered license.

Initially, the owners would not agree to conditions the agency demanded, a longtime sore point for Nicky Rottens. They are suing the city over concerns that officials also have placed too many conditions upon their operational permits.

Midway though the hearing, which was conducted like a trial, with witnesses being called, owners and residents talked and eventually came up with a list of conditions with which everyone could agree upon.

Former Councilwoman Carrie Downey brokered the compromise.

“It was my idea,” co-owner Tim Aaron said. “During the break I told her what I wanted and suggested she talk to Marilyn Field.”

Field resides off the 100 block of Orange Avenue, where several restaurants operate, and has long complained that Nicky Rottens has not been a good neighbor. 

Downey’s efforts were strictly voluntary. She got involved, she said, because she is passionate about having more family friendly restaurants in Coronado, places that welcome kids, but also allow parents to enjoy a cocktail or a beer.

The conditions include:

• Hours of operation will extend to 10:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, except New Year’s Eve, when the bar can stay open until 1 a.m.
• Sales of alcohol cannot exceed sales of food and the owners must keep quarterly records that can be reviewed by the ABC.
• There can be no live entertainment, no dancing, amusement machines or video games.
• Amplification systems are prohibited in the patio.
• Speakers inside can only be on until 10 p.m. and cannot be loud enough to be heard outside.
• One security guard must be on duty Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. until a half hour after the restaurant closes.

The signs point to a greater willingness on the parts of nearby residents to live peaceably. One of Nicky Rottens' staunchest critics says that's what he wants.

“Let’s get on the road to being friendly neighbors and work together,” Brian Stewart said.