Liquor licked Jolly Roger, owner says

The owner of the landmark Jolly Roger and Laguna Beach Brewing Co. restaurants, Richard Sang, has cited a canceled liquor license escrow as his reason for shutting both businesses down.

“It’s been rough,” Sang said.

The Jolly Roger was abruptly shuttered Sept. 29 after being in operation at the same corner location for more than 50 years.

Sam Goldstein purchased the historic building at 400 S. Coast Highway in August for more than $11 million and had announced that he planned to keep the existing businesses intact.

Sang said that he was current in payments to all of his vendors and in full compliance with city requirements.

“I’ve had really great relations with the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce,” he said.

Sang, who purchased the restaurants in Nov. 2005 at no cost in exchange for much-needed maintenance work, said escrow had been opened to transfer the restaurants’ liquor license from the previous owner.

“The lease was contingent on the transfer of the liquor license,” Sang said. He found out on the Wednesday before the closure that the escrow had been canceled.

Sang’s father had suffered a stroke the day before, so he was in Stockton taking care of him when he received the call from his agent.

“I asked him, ‘What does that mean for me?’ He said that it [the liquor license] wouldn’t transfer, and that I wouldn’t have the ability to sell alcohol beginning Oct. 2,” Sang said.

Sang then called his real estate lawyer, who advised him to close the businesses down rather than risk assuming a costly lease.

“My lawyer said, ‘If you go one minute into October, you’ll have to pay the full $80,000 lease,’” Sang said. “I asked him, ‘What if I can’t sell liquor that month?’ He said that if [the license] expires, I would have to go through the lottery system, which could take at least six months to get another license.”

They also discussed the possibility of contacting a liquor license broker, but any way they looked at it, Sang said, he had the potential of running a restaurant and brewery for several months without being able to sell alcohol.

“My lawyer said, ‘You can’t take a chance; your dad just had a stroke, and my advice to you is to close the place down,’” Sang said.

Sang said he told his employees as soon as he had made his decision, and laid them off that Friday.

“I love them to death and they’ve been a great crew,” Sang said. “I wasn’t given any notice, either. The Jolly Roger has been an institution for years and years, and it was a very tough decision. I really enjoyed being in Laguna Beach.”

Sang reportedly dumped out vats of specially brewed beer.

Former manager and 25-year Jolly Roger veteran Jeannie Mallarian has since moved on to the White House restaurant, which has begun serving breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. to fill the gap left by the Jolly Roger’s closure.