RICHMOND, Va. — Mac McCormack is known around Richmond, and the country, for the selection of whiskies he serves in his restaurants.
“I’ve been an owner for almost 30 years,” the owner of McCormack’s Whisky Grill in Richmond and McCormack’s Big Whisky Grill in Henrico, said. “We buy whole barrels of whiskey from distilleries so that when you come and you get a specific bourbon at the restaurant, it’s only available here.”
But McCormack prides himself in running his restaurants the opposite of how he said City Hall runs Richmond.
“I feel like if I did my business like the City of Richmond did their business, I would be out of business,” he said.
He recently found himself in the same boat as dozens of other Richmond business owners when he received a letter in January from the Richmond Finance Department that said his meals tax account for his Fan District restaurant was delinquent.
“I went to our accountant who handles probably like 250 restaurants in Richmond, and she goes, ‘Oh, boy, you got one of these too,'” he said.