After ‘enormous’ number of police calls, downtown Columbia club will lose liquor license

A Columbia nightclub will no longer be allowed to sell alcohol after police reported making “an enormous amount” of service calls to Social Bar and Lounge at 918 Gervais St.

“CPD has responded to this location in reference to gun crimes, individuals shot, intoxication, larcenies, domestic violence, fighting and drug possession,” read a July 7, 2022, letter from the Columbia Police Department to the South Carolina Department of Revenue.

Police last year asked the state agency to deny Social Bar and Lounge new alcohol permits, which the venue must apply for every two years in order to continue selling liquor. Social Bar and Lounge has operated in Columbia since mid-2012.

As of June 29, the club has surrendered it’s liquor permit. The establishment can stay open but won’t be able to sell beer or liquor, a Columbia Police Department spokesperson confirmed.

Since sending the July 2022 letter, Columbia police have responded to more than 50 calls for service to the bar, according to an updated affidavit to the state Department of Revenue from a Columbia Police Department inspector.

In March, the Department of Revenue responded by declaring it would not renew the club’s alcohol permits, which Social’s owners challenged at the time.

Then late this month, following a shooting at the bar June 25, the agency motioned for an emergency suspension of the bar’s permits, according to documents provided by the Department of Revenue. The department was asking for an expedited hearing in South Carolina Administrative Court for a determination on the liquor permits.

Now, that court date won’t happen as Social has voluntarily surrendered its permit.

Beyond the safety issues raised by Columbia police, Social has also allegedly violated state tax law by serving alcohol on Sundays without a permit, according to the motion from the Department of Revenue.

Social Bar and Lounge requires so many resources “that other areas of the city are certainly being under served,” the Columbia Police Department’s letter read.

On June 25, police reported that a man had been shot and hospitalized with a gunshot wound to a lower extremity after an altercation at the bar.

Last July, police responded to a shooting at the club in which a 21-year-old man was shot in the arm or hand area.

“On several occasions, CPD officers have been on scene because of the large crowd exiting this location when gunshots rang out,” the letter said.

The University of South Carolina and Benedict College police departments have also been called “numerous times” to assist Columbia police with problems at the club, according to the letter.

The police department also claims that security guards at Social Bar have pepper sprayed club patrons at least 11 times and that those security employees gave little cooperation during incidents at the club.

Columbia police command staff met with the bar’s principal owner, Meyer Moore of Next Ventures, LLC, in June 2022, according to the letter to the Department of Revenue.

Police leadership shared that they were concerned with the amount of resources needed at his businesses and about the lack of cooperation from security staff, according to the letter. The letter says Moore “advised he would do what was necessary and make changes where needed to solve this problem.”

Police continued to receive numerous calls to the venue after that meeting. Nearby businesses have also complained about safety, the letter adds.

Social Bar and Lounge has “failed to operate in a responsible manner” and has been given “ample time” to change its practices, “therefore, we protest the reissuance of an alcohol license to Next Ventures, LLC,” the police department’s letter concluded.

The State has attempted to contact Moore and other management of Social Bar and Lounge but did not receive a response by press time. Documents from the Department of Revenue also name Ulster Hams, LLC as an owner of the bar. That LLC filed articles of termination in March and is now listed as dissolved by the South Carolina Secretary of State.