Those who want to drink at a bar in Westwood have two choices:
Maloney’s and Westwood Brewing Company. Numerous factors have
contributed to the presence of few drinking establishments in the
Village.
Though many Village restaurants are licensed to sell liquor, the
Westwood Specific Plan states that alcohol has to be served in
areas linked with restaurants or hotels.
Maloney’s and Westwood Brewing Company are technically
restaurants with bars that provide alcohol in addition to the food
they serve, as establishments that only serve alcohol are not
allowed under the Westwood Specific Plan.
Business owners of restaurants with bars say that students are
their most common clientele.
“Our bread and butter is the college student,” said
Josh Normand, manager of Maloney’s.
The creation of additional bars in the Village would not hurt
their business but benefit them with more turnover and foot
traffic, Normand said.
While some people desire that more bars open in the community,
others say the Village has more than enough alcohol
establishments.
“There is definitely an over-concentration. Westwood has
more alcoholic serving places than it should have,” said
Sandy Brown, president of the Holmby-Westwood Property Owners
Association.
Proposals for enterprises with bars in Westwood, such as one
last year by Leo Prats, owner of Cuban Bistro in Alhambra, have
faced opposition from neighborhood residents.
Westwood residents drafted the Westwood Specific Plan after a
woman was killed in the crossfire of a gang fight in 1988 in the
Village. Many believe that the shooting incident caused Westwood to
lose much of its business and fall into a depression.
The plan came into effect the following year.
Nancy Greenstein, spokeswoman for UCPD, said improving Westwood
business requires making it a safe city through such measures as
more careful underage screening and alcohol monitoring at
establishments with liquor.
“Owners and managers running the business need to not let
underage people drink and enforce that people drink in
moderation,” Greenstein said.
The Westwood Specific Plan prohibits bars that serve just
alcohol to discourage people from going with the sole purpose of
becoming drunk. It requires that food be accessible so customers do
not drink with empty stomachs.
“We don’t want a small number to spoil it for
everyone,” Greenstein said.
Business owners say they are concerned for the safety of
students but face difficulties of their own in generating enough
revenue to stay afloat in the Westwood economy. The lack of
adequate parking deters visitors from stopping in the area, and new
business owners face rising rent that creates pressure on them to
increase revenue.
While acting “strictly under restaurant license and
operations,” manager of Westwood Brewing Company Martin Sok
said his business is kept alive by the sale of liquor.
“There’s a bigger (profit) margin from selling
alcohol,” he said.
Sok emphasized that while he was interested in maintaining his
business, he was also glad that police were helping to make the
community safe through their greater involvement in regulating
alcohol.
A solution that some suggest to address the issue Westwood
residents have with alcoholic beverages in the Village is opening
up a pub on the UCLA campus, where community service officers can
maintain a better-controlled environment.
“If students want it so much, they should serve it on
campus,” Brown said.
Previous attempts to open a pub in Ackerman Union have been
voted down by students.
Some say that creating a safe environment in the Village is not
as dependent upon limiting the number of bars in Westwood as it is
for college students to consume liquor in a responsible manner.
“If only one place served alcohol in the whole of
Westwood, it wouldn’t limit availability that much,”
said second-year history student Carl Roque, who conducted research
involving over 150 UCLA students in a study titled “The
Effects of Greek Life on Vital College Statistics.”
Students who want alcohol will find means to get it, meaning
students need to regulate themselves, he said.
In comparing the average GPAs of fraternities across the campus,
Roque found that GPAs were highest spring quarter and lowest winter
quarter. He also found that Greek life was most active spring
quarter and least active winter quarter.
Roque attributes the correlation between Greek life and academic
performance as the result of increased incentive for students to
study in advance so that they have additional time for social life
and drinking.
“People benefit from the motivation of having a set time,
a set place and a set group of people for an event,” he
said.