Drinks flow on Sunday
Area bars waste no time implementing repeal
The liqour license on the wall of Sammy C's Rock N' Sports Pub & Grille now bears the stamp Sunday liqour sales. The bar and restaurant has been open on Sundays since the begining of the year but could not sell drinks on Sunday until August 17. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — Liquor sales on Sunday are legal again, and a few bars and restaurants didn’t waste anytime getting the Sunday permit stamp on their liquor license. Olympic Kitchen, Goodfellas Sports Lounge, and Sammy C’s were all open and serving customers yesterday.

Cassie Henderson stopped into Sammy C’s with her friend Vickie Dorrill. Henderson said she voted to repeal the ban.
“Oh, you betcha,” she said of her support for the repeal.

A long-time resident of Gallup, Henderson remembers the days before the ban was enacted more than 20 years ago.
“I like it because we used to be able to (drink on Sunday),” she said.

Dorrill said that the vote wasn’t that important to her, but if she had her way, she’d rather package liquor be sold on Sunday. The law only permits by the drink sales on Sunday, and packaged liquor sales are still prohibited.

Raul Lopez, a bartender at Sammy C’s, said that he thinks it’s really good for the tourism industry.

“It’s good for tourists ... I think it really benefits us,” he said.
The Aug. 5 vote passed with 56 percent of Gallup voters in favor of the measure.

Sammy Chioda, owner of Sammy C’s Rock N’ Sports Pub & Grille, said he is already seeing economic benefits to Gallup because of the passage of the Sunday liquor sales.

On his first Sunday with liquor sales, a couple came in from Las Vegas and asked for drinks. He began talking to them and told them that they were his first customers from out of the area to be served liquor since the new law took effect.

He then asked them if they would have eaten there if the Sunday liquor sales were still prohibited, and they said they like to relax over dinner with a drink or two and would probably have decide to go on to Holbrook to stop and eat.

“The good thing about this is that the couple stayed here for a couple of hours and then decided to stay overnight so a local motel also benefited,” he said, adding that this provided a little more to the city in gross receipt taxes and Lodger’s taxes.

Bill Donovan contributed to this report.