SAN ANTONIO – As police work to keep drunk drivers off the road at Fiesta, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is paying attention to the other side of the bar.
The TABC is increasing its operations during Fiesta, focusing on making sure vendors in and around Fiesta events don't overserve adults or serve minors at all. Its sting operations have already turned up three instances of minors being served, including once at Oyster Bake.
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"We want to make sure that our retailers understand that we are checking on them, and they need to be vigilant and do the right thing. Do not oversell to persons. Do not allow them to become intoxicated during their events," said Lt. Raul Salinas, with the TABC. "Secondly, to let the public know that we're out there doing our best to make sure we ensure people's public safety."
The state agency's operations include open and undercover inspections, as well as "minor stings," where the agency sends in an underage person to see if they get served.
Salinas said TABC has done 30 stings so far, with minors getting served three times, including once at Oyster Bake. Last year, the TABC conducted 94 stings in total, which turned up 14 violations.
Salinas did not know how many inspections the agency has conducted so far. Last year, the TABC conducted 324 inspections.
"For the most part, we get pretty good compliance with everyone," Salinas said. "We're not sneaking around, hiding behind bushes or anything like that. They know that we're going to come."
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