State alcohol regulators have shut off the taps at Bar Latino, the Meadowview Road nightspot in Greensboro that has spent years cycling through fines, suspensions and, in 2024, a fatal shooting in its parking lot. The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission suspended the bar’s ABC permits because of what officials describe as an active and ongoing criminal investigation by state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents.
The news came Saturday in a post from the Greensboro Police Department, which said officials will release more information as it becomes available. Bar Latino sits at 316 W. Meadowview Road, according to Waze, along a commercial stretch in south Greensboro. ALE Director Bryan House said the suspension, reported by the Greensboro News & Record, “reinforces the shared expectation that these establishments operate responsibly, comply with the law, and do not place their patrons or surrounding communities at risk.”
How a Summary Suspension Works
The commission’s move is what state law calls a summary suspension, an emergency step regulators can take before any formal hearing takes place. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 150B-3(c) and § 18B-904(e)(4), the ABC Commission can immediately suspend a permit if it determines emergency action is necessary to protect public health, safety or welfare. Those suspensions stay in place until the Office of Administrative Hearings resolves the case or the commission itself modifies the order.
Selling alcohol without a valid permit while a suspension is active is not a minor paperwork problem. Under North Carolina law, doing so is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by fines and up to two years in prison, according to guidance from the UNC School of Government previously reported by Hoodline. State agents actively monitor suspended businesses to check whether they keep pouring anyway.
A Long Trail of Violations
Bar Latino’s run-ins with regulators go back nearly a decade. In September 2017, the ABC Commission cited the bar for refilling liquor bottles, a major offense that led to a 53-day license suspension, and by January 2018 the business paid a $300 fine to avoid a separate three-day suspension over an audit division violation, according to records compiled by SafeProof…