WICHITA — Revolution Rock Bar has closed, but it’s not certain if that is permanent or not.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do with that yet,” says Jason Smith, director of operations for Melad Stephan’s Empire Restaurant Management.
Smith says the Old Town bar’s liquor license has expired.
“We don’t know if we’re going to renew it and reopen,” he says. “Business wasn’t where we wanted it to be.”
There’s more to the story, though.
Greg Finley of Finns Lounge has been running Revolution. In June, Have You Heard reported that Stephan said Finley was running the business for him until Finley could get his own liquor license and make changes, which could include a new concept.
According to state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division documents, Finley first applied for a license in May and was “denied that application due to Finley’s being disqualified by a previous revocation.” Finley applied for the license as president and sole owner of Sin, which does business as Revolution Rock Bar.
In August, according the documents, the ABC received a liquor license request from Finns Inc, doing business as Revolution Rock Bar, and Andrea Lambert was listed as president and sole owner.
The ABC conducted an investigation and found that the application showed Lambert’s address and e-mail as the same ones Finley had used. Upon interviewing Lambert, the ABC said Lambert said she never lived at that address. She said Finns was in her name, and she was signing paperwork for it, because of Finley’s inability to obtain a license. She said she was doing it for money.
“All evidence indicates Finley has enlisted the assistance of Andrea Lambert as a straw owner in order to acquire this license.”
The ABC rejected the request. There is a right to appeal.
Finley has owned Finns Lounge, also in Old Town, for several years. The bar still has an operating license. However, it appears that business has been closed along with Revolution. There’s no answer on the phone at the bar, and there is no voicemail.
Finley didn’t return several calls to explain. He answered one call on his cellphone on Tuesday with a promise to return the call but didn’t.