Ask people what they think about bars staying open until 4 a.m. and like mixed drinks, you get mixed opinions.
"I think it's a great idea. I think it's a beautiful idea," said Derek Riggle, visiting Cleveland from Seattle.
Not so much for mom Ashley Robilotta.
"I think 2 a.m. is late enough. I mean, people get crazy at 2 a.m. Four o'clock, people are getting ready for work," she said.
But like it or not, that will be the reality for Cleveland and several surrounding communities during the week of the Republican National Convention.
Under a new state law, venues in cities that are hosting “major events,” such as the RNC, are allowed to apply for a waiver with the Ohio Division of Liquor Control. That waiver allows the venues to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. the day following the event.
Now if you ask Sam McNulty, who owns five bars on W. 25th in Ohio City, he'd like to take it a step farther.
"Ideally, we'd be open 24 hours a day," McNulty said. "So all walks of life, all shifts, night-workers could all come enjoy Market Garden beers."
And why stop there?
"Rather than do it a week, I think we should do it all year," McNulty said of pushing the normal 2:30 a.m. serve time to 4 a.m.
"It's only an hour-and-a-half. And if you think about it, that 'only' leaves an hour-and-a-half until we're allowed to re-open at 5:30 a.m.," he said. "So I kind of want to call Columbus and our Governor Kasich and say, 'Let's just go all the way and be open 24 hours a day and be done with it.''"
Tuesday, the city of Cleveland released a list of the 243 bars that applied for special permission to stay open late during the RNC. All but three were recommended by the city for approval to the state, which will make the final call.
Along with Secrets Gentleman's Club on Brookpark Rd. and a place called Blueprint with an address on Euclid Ave., J. Lue's Cocktails and Cuisine on E. 75th and St. Clair was one that was not recommended.
Owner Thomas Wright believes that's unfair.
"I pay the same sales tax as they pay downtown and the people that's on that list that got approved," he said, adding that he has not been told why his establishment was not recommended.
Wright's bar is about as far east as the 4 a.m. applications go in Cleveland, aside from the bars inside the Cleveland Clinic hotels.
But with downtown visible in the distance, Wright thinks it’s only fair he gets a fair chance to cash in when the RNC comes to town.
"We, as owners, can take the precaution. We can get security, we can get extra security, we can also have police officers sitting outside," he said. "It's only fair, it's only fair."
Outside of Cleveland, dozens of bars surrounding communities including Lakewood, Beachwood, Independence and Westlake have also applied.
The deadline to apply for the major event waiver was March 21. The Division of Liquor Control will determine which venues receive waivers by June 17.
