City of Miami Cracking Down in Wynwood, Strictly Enforcing 3 A.M. Last Call

By Laurie Charles Wed., Mar. 6 2013 at 11:30 AM

Gramps in Wynwood: Last call will arrive before you know it.

If you've gone out to Gramps, Electric Pickle, Bardot, or any other bars in Wynwood lately, you may have noticed your night ending earlier than usual.

Well, if so, you've got Section 4-3 of the City of Miami's Code of Ordinances to thank.

The ordinance states that "no vendor of alcoholic beverages on the licensed premises shall serve, offer to sell, or allow to be consumed or deliver any alcoholic beverages to any person except during weekdays, including Saturday from 7 a.m.-3 a.m. on the following day, and Sunday from noon-3 a.m. on the following day."

See also:
-Electric Pickle Closed for Labor Day Weekend by Fire Department
-Electric Pickle Closed for at Least Two Weeks Due to Renovations
-Wood Tavern's Backyard Closed: "Fire Inspector Told Us That We Could NOT Open"
-Wood Tavern Reopening Backyard "Woohoo!!!" After Weeklong Closure

Businesses that fall under the ordinance include bars in Wynwood.

So basically, if you order gin and juice at 2:45 a.m., you have only 15 minutes to drink up or toss it, whereas before the ordinance was enforced, you could stay at the bar till the wee hours, finishing every last drop of your drink.

According to bar owners in the area, the ordinance is suddenly being strictly enforced, many times without notice.

Electric Pickle

"We've been in business for four years, and [the police] have been totally aware that we've been open until 5 a.m.," Tomas Hussain Ceddia, owner of the Electric Pickle, tells Crossfade.

"The police came in the middle of a busy night and closed us down and told us that we needed to stop serving [alcohol] at 3 a.m.... with no notice ahead of time.

"They said they were going to start enforcing [the ordinance]," Ceddia says. "I've been in Miami for 15 years and never heard of this law. When we opened our business, we were open until 5 a.m."

Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez

Gramps, which opened its doors this past December, was also affected by the ordinance enforcement.

Adam Gersten owns the bar, located on NW 24th Street between North Miami Avenue and NW Second Avenue.

"The city suddenly started enforcing it within the last couple of weeks," he tells us. "The idea that we have to take away people's drinks at 2:50 a.m. sucks."

Also a lawyer, Gersten says what has everyone confused is the section of the ordinance that states "allowed to be consumed."

The bar owner believes the ordinance was written with good intentions, but he insists that it creates more dangerous circumstances.

"Developers are concerned with the condos and disturbing the peace, and I think they're right," Gersten says. "[But] people leave during peak drinking hours to drive ten or 15 blocks to drink."

Location Info

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Gramps

176 NW 24th St., Miami, FL

Category: Music

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Electric Pickle

2826 N. Miami Ave., Miami, FL

Category: Music

Tags:

Adam Gersten, City of Miami, Electric Pickle Miami, Gramps Bar, Tomas Hussain Ceddia, Wynwood

We Recommend

kwozzy

When the city of Miami wants to renovate a dilapidated area, they allow all sorts of businesses to thrive unmolested, when they start to see the tax returns from these places they get greedy. It's the same deal with production/movies/TV, the city creates great incentives to lure Hollywood here, then once the work arrives they start to tax them and the productions leave... the city is it's own worst enemy.

Banana Republic comes to mind...

jpinon33

Why a notice couldn't be sent out to these small business owners before hand is beyond me. They would rather embarrass and cause a loss to the businesses in the middle of a busy night, than use common sense.

Aleric Constantin

The Corner!!!!!!!!

alexpappas8

1 Like

we all know the source of the outcry is not from concerned citizens but from bar owners in brickell and miami beach. they see wynwood as a threat and taking their money.

Johnny Mesa

I think these liquor laws suck for night workers. We can't drink when we get out of work. We for sure can't drink before work, and not all of us have the luxury of having the weekend off.

pod_nt

1 Like

I'm a firm believer in unrestricted operating hours for any business. If you can serve liquor at 6 AM and make some money, go for it. Also, "blood on the highway" is largely hype and fear. There's several jurisdictions around the world (including the entire state of Nevada) where 24-hour licenses are the norm. DUIs and other such things aren't any higher than they are in 2 or 3 AM jurisdictions. For the most part in these places, bars and clubs close when it makes financial sense to do so. And believe it or not, on average, for your average guy out on the town, they usually taper off around 3 or 4 AM on their own.

Donnie Donnie

now this is bad news...but why would they do that? the area needs improving and money coming threw that part of town, it just seems like the city doesnt want that area to progress...?

Dennis Barranco

Willcall is open

Michael Joseph Farvet

1 Like

That's fine. Come 3am, We'll just DRIVE piss drunk somewhere else where they stay open til 5, like everywhere else in Miami. (not recommended people) but it will happen make no mistake.