by Michaela Mendygral
Photo by Jess Ruderman
It has been an unusually quiet month for Clubhouse Cafe on Whitney Avenue. On Friday, March 1, a ‘For Sale’ sign was posted outside the bar and the cafe is officially on the market.
“We just put it on the market last week,” Lindsey Carnage of Colonial Properties said.
The Clubhouse, located just a little over a mile from the Quinnipiac University Mount Carmel campus, was a convenient hangout for students of both legal and underrage status.
The local bar has been closed for a little over a month after it was raided. Its doors are covered with notices regarding the cafe´s liquor license, deeming it indefinitely suspended.
Photo by Michaela Mendygral
“On Jan. 25, 2019, after receiving numerous complaints, Hamden Police again conducted a liquor compliance check at Clubhouse Café. Officers issued 131 infractions for ‘Simple Trespass’ to patrons that were under 21 years of age,” captain Ronald Smith of Hamden Police stated in a press release on Jan. 30. Most of the underage patrons present were Quinnipiac students, according to Hamden Police.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull also released a statement on Jan. 30, issuing a summary suspension for the establishment.
Seagull cited an inspection by Hamden Police in the statement.
“We are deeply concerned as our officers have noticed that Quinnipiac students from nearby are walking intoxicated in the road coming to and from the Clubhouse Café,” acting Police Chief John Cappiello said in a press release from the Department of Consumer Protection. “Due to the repeated offenses and risk that this establishment is causing to our young residents and area college students, any assistance in mitigating the obvious dangers posed to minors who patronize the establishment would be greatly appreciated.”
Clubhouse’s license has been suspended before, most recently within the past year.
“On April 20, 2018, approximately 100 people, under 21 years of age, were on the premises. Police seized 42 fraudulent identifications during the liquor compliance check,” Smith stated.
The compliance check in January could be the last straw for the Liquor Control Commission, who would not lift the suspension until a hearing, according to Smith.
“We don’t take the issuance of a summary suspension lightly, but feel it is warranted in this instance. Serving underage patrons is a very serious offense, and our partnerships with local police, other state agencies, and community organizations are all needed to keep this from happening in our communities,” Seagull stated in the release.
According to the New Haven Register, director of communications for the Department of Consumer Protection, Lora Rae Anderson said Clubhouse Cafe was barred from opening while under summary suspension.
“The permit remains under the summary suspension, and the matter is still pending,” Anderson said.
Permittee Anthony Danonoli could not be reached for comment.