Ogden restaurant owners pan Zion Curtain as lawmakers mull alternatives
Trevor Winesett, a bartender at Roosters Brewing Co. and Restaurant in Ogden, doesn't make a fuss about the Zion Curtain meant to keep customers from seeing him mix drinks, a decorative metal partition. But many restaurant owners oppose the Zion Curtain requirement and state lawmakers are mulling alternatives. Winesett is shown on March 1, 2017.
Alex Montanez, owner of Rovali's Ristorante Italiano in Ogden, stands in front of the Zion Curtain at the restaurant, meant to keep customers from seeing bartenders mix drinks just the other side of it. Many restaurant owners oppose the Zion Curtain requirement and state lawmakers are mulling alternatives. Montanez is shown on March 1, 2017.
Troy Bouchard pours a beer behind the “Zion curtain” at Zucca Trattoria on Friday, Dec. 30, 2016. Large black sheets surround the bar section of the Ogden restaurant as required by state law.
OGDEN — Alex Montañez, operator of Rovali’s Ristorante Italiano in Ogden, tries to make the best of what he deems a bad situation.
He’s converted the partition that blocks off the area where wine is poured, mixed drinks prepared — as required by state law — into a drawing point. It’s covered with photos of celebrities, artists, musicians and others, and customers, lured by the jumble of images, frequently use it as a backdrop for selfies.
“It’s almost become iconic for us,” says Montañez.
Make no mistake, though. He, like many restaurant operators, is no fan of the law that requires placement of such partitions, popularly dubbed Zion Curtains. And mindful of such sentiments, Utah lawmakers are mulling a measure that would give restaurant owners an alternative to the curtains — creation of buffer zones around bars to keep kids at bay.
Even so, operators of several Ogden-area eateries aren’t tripping over themselves to support the initiative, House Bill 442. Some offer measured backing — it might be an improvement — but even better, in their view, would be elimination of Zion Curtain rules altogether, meant to minimize kids’ exposure to alcohol, presumably to keep them from drinking.
“I know it’s all for the kids, but it’s the parents’ responsibility to inform them of the dangers of alcohol,” said “Bo” Boaz, bar manager for Zucca Trattoria, another Ogden eatery. “It’s not the restaurant’s job to educate your kids not to drink.”
Kym Buttschardt, owner of Union Grill and Roosters Brewing Co. and Restaurant, both in Ogden, said restaurants — as opposed to bars — typically don’t accommodate excessive, double-fisted drinking. Those who drink generally do it in moderation, a drink or two.
“This is a restaurant, a nice restaurant. We shouldn’t have to hide behind the Zion Curtain,” said Buttschardt, who called HB 442 “concerning” given the new set of potential rules restaurants would face.
Even if kids can’t see a drink getting mixed or poured, many add, they’ll see it when it comes from behind the Zion Curtain.
Even some lawmakers question the utility of partitions. Gov. Gary Herbert, notably, addressed the issue at a press conference Thursday.
The notion that Zion Curtains will keep kids from drinking is “kind of a hunch people have and maybe a perception they have, but it’s not based on any scientific data,” he said, according to the Associated Press. The governor, a Republican, suspects the state will eventually move away from requiring the partitions.
Likewise, Utah Rep. Gage Froerer, a Weber County Republican, said he’s never seen any data demonstrating that Zion Curtains curtail underage drinking. “From my perspective, I never did see any sense in the Zion Curtain,” he said.
Both Froerer and Herbert, though, expressed support for some of the provisions of HB 442, which received a 13-1 favorable recommendation on Wednesday from the House Business and Labor Committee. By allowing a buffer zone, Froerer likes that it gives restaurateurs an alternative to the Zion Curtain. Herbert alluded favorably to provisions in HB 442 — which still faces a vote by the full Utah House — calling for more education on alcohol use.
Some restaurants aren’t required to install Zion Curtains because of grandfather provisions, a sore point for Keith Rounkles, operator of The Oaks. But they’d eventually have to get a partition or a buffer zone per the latest incarnation of HB 442.
’Kookiness of Utah'
In Zucca Trattoria, located along Ogden’s Historic 25th Street, the L-shaped bar, located in a corner of the restaurant, doesn’t draw patrons. A black curtain shrouds the area within the bar area, per Zion Curtain requirements, because that’s where drinks are prepared.
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BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner
Troy Bouchard pours a beer behind the “Zion curtain” at Zucca Trattoria on Friday, Dec. 30, 2016. Large black sheets surround the bar section of the Ogden restaurant, as required by state law.
“We got a bar where we can seat people and serve drinks but no one will sit there because of the curtain,” Boaz said. “It just doesn’t look inviting. It’s a big, black cotton curtain.”
Boaz said allowing a no-kids zone around the bar might be a palatable alternative to the curtain. But he’s not so sure about the potential requirement in HB 442 that might also require placement of a barrier to delineate the buffer zone, yet another cost.
Montañez doesn’t think he’d have the space to accommodate a buffer zone given the configuration of his restaurant. Buttschardt thinks a buffer zone, dubbed a Zion Moat by some, would create new complications — enforcing who can and can’t enter, for instance.
Even if the Zion Curtain regulations — long in place in Utah — are cause for grumbling, though, it doesn’t mean restaurants haven’t managed.
At Roosters, one of the bar areas is located at the end of a long counter, where patrons typically don’t go. The space is dark and cramped, but bartender Trevor Winesett manages.
“I think they’re just used to it, used to the kookiness of Utah,” said Ashley Smoot, the Roosters manager.
Contact reporter Tim Vandenack at tvandenack@standard.net, follow him on Twitter at @timvandenack or like him on Facebook at Facebook.com/timvandenackreporter.
