Shaggy's on Main turns off the tap

Shaggy's on Main had its last call for the last time on New Year's Eve, shutting down after nearly three years in business due to unbalanced food and alcohol sales.

Owner Joe Van Horn said the restaurant, which opened in May 2005, used to be a threat to other nightlife hubs like Klondike Kate's and The Deer Park Tavern. Despite this initial success, he said, Shaggy's was unable to sell enough food to successfully operate as a restaurant according to state law.

"[Newark is] losing a great neighbor who raised a lot of money for local charities," Van Horn said. "They are losing an alternative to the same old, same old - dark pubs serving pub grub."

Shaggy's began experiencing friction with the Delaware Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement in June 2007 when the restaurant's liquor invoices and sales records were subpoenaed for audit by Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control officials, he said.

"When we were first cited, we were selling about 40 percent food and 60 percent alcohol," Van Horn said. "By the time we closed, we had moved it to about 51 percent food and 49 percent alcohol, but our total sales were now off by 75 percent."

DABC Commissioner John Cordrey said these sales percentages do not reflect the agreement the two struck when Van Horn applied for the restaurant's liquor license.

"Mr. Van Horn indicated to me that the food to alcohol ratio was to be 80 percent food sales and 20 percent alcohol sales," Cordrey said. "I required him to provide me with proof of this proposition."

When evaluating alcohol sales from a restaurant, he said the monetary figure is the only checkpoint the DABC evaluates.

"We're looking at the overall sales of alcohol, the price per volume and the actual volume served," Cordrey said. "There is no specific 'OK' or 'not OK' when it comes to this process."

He said when the results arrived, they did not reflect the projected sales.

"It showed us that they were operating in a substantially wrong way," Cordrey said.

In order to boost food sales, the DABC limited Shaggy's live entertainment to one night per week and prohibited the restaurant from selling alcohol past midnight, one hour before last call for almost all other Newark bars.

Van Horn said he was not treated fairly in the process, especially regarding the restaurant's compliance with the law, and deemed the restriction "excessive" in a statement on the restaurant's Web site.

"When you look at these restrictions on paper, losing about seven hours of alcohol service per week, they don't look excessive," he said. "But as time wore on, it became more and more apparent just how excessive they were."

Complying with these restrictions meant Shaggy's was able to stay in business, but the agreement eventually resulted in a 75 percent drop in total sales, Van Horn said.

"We advertised everywhere we would reach families," he said. "We ran ads in The Newark Post, The Money Mailer, Movie Madness, Out & About, The News Journal, Spark, on the reverse side of register tape at Pathmark and in surrounding church bulletins."

Regardless of these efforts, Van Horn said he was consistently unable to raise food sales. Poor location, minimal exposure to Main Street and heavy competition with other Newark bars were just a few of the obstacles he faced.

"Shaggy's On Main was a challenging spot overall," he said. "I also believe that the perception of Shaggy's was that our food was more expensive than our competitors, when in fact, the opposite was true. Regardless of what advertising we did or promotions we ran, we could not get our ratio past 50-50."

Senior Tiffany Mease said she is surprised to hear of the restaurant's closing.

"It's true that their food was a little overpriced, especially for students on a budget," Mease said. "But they offered a unique menu and their food was really good. I'd go every once in awhile, but not often."

Junior Chris Jones had a different perspective on the restaurant's closing.

"I didn't even know that place served food," Jones said. "I thought it was just a bar. I never saw them do any advertisement across campus."

Newark City Councilman Jerry Clifton said Shaggy's had many chances to enhance their business if they focused on advertising food instead of drink specials.

"Shaggy's didn't try to strengthen their lunch hour," Clifton said. "Lunchtime is when many restaurants make their ratios.

"People won't be drinking at lunch and you'll be selling more food. Caffé Gelato sells many expensive bottles of wine yet they still make up for it due to their lunch business."

Clifton also said the DABC and the Newark City Council serve different purposes in regulating food service establishments.

"Shaggy's came to us and said they were going to operate as a restaurant, not as a bar," he said. "Council's job is to make sure they're operating as they said under oath I'll add, they would. They clearly weren't."

Despite this violation, Clifton said Shaggy's had breached the terms of their liquor license, and therefore the job of closing the restaurant was within the jurisdiction of the DABC.

"People who are pissed off at us are pissed off at the wrong people," Clifton said of Newark City Council members.

According to Roy Lopata, planning director for the city of Newark, the currently vacant location has yet to fall under new ownership, despite rumors of Grotto Pizza and The Greene Turle, a sports bar and restaurant based in Ocean City, Md., moving in.

"No one's applied yet," Lopata said. "But it is my understanding that we'll see another restaurant take its place."

While Shaggy's succumbed to poor sales and empty dining rooms, Van Horn said his future is not so bleak.

"You may eventually see me back on Main Street, returning to the scene of my crimes to make another go of it," he said.

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