Board grants renewals, approves officer changes and agrees to quarterly review for Call Signs' ratio appeal

The Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary's County conducted routine 2026 license renewals and approved a number of officer/member changes on March 12, 2026, and addressed an appeal by Call Signs about the county's food-to-alcohol ratio for a Class B restaurant license.

The Call Signs representative (recorded as S Malutra) explained the business changed its buffet model and expanded lunch offerings to increase food revenue. Board staff explained that under county practice a restaurant license must show average daily receipts with food exceeding alcohol (county standard described in the meeting as 51% food / 49% alcohol). The board approved a discretionary 12-month monitoring period during which the licensee will provide quarterly ratio reports to the office to demonstrate a trend toward compliance; the matter will be revisited if quarterly data do not show improvement.

Separately, the board systematically approved officer/member changes for multiple licensees (for example, Puxent/Moose Lodge 2393, Breton Bay Golf & Country Club, North End Gallery, Leo Pizza and New Town Players) with motions and recorded unanimous voice votes, and the board approved a blanket set of 2026 license renewals after administrative review.

Board staff and enforcement officials also delivered monthly enforcement and inspector reports: the enforcement coordinator outlined 13 compliance checks for February (one cited violation — the Max Tap & Table case reported earlier), DUI tallies from the sheriff and state police, and routine patrol and training activity.

The board asked applicants and staff to submit documentation as required for monitoring and renewals and scheduled the Call Signs review to coincide with quarterly reporting timelines and the next renewal if necessary.