Alcohol Sales; A Boost For Flowood Restaurants

"A significant boost to business" is how the manager of Up The Creek describes sales since they started serving wine and liquor. At Cheddar's Casual Cafe, the manager says they've seen an increase in traffic and a lot of new customers since they opened their bar last weekend.

According to the Flowood city clerk, 13 restaurants have applied for resort status permits, which allows them to sell wine and liquor by the glass. Seven are now selling these spirits in their establishments. The remainder are still waiting for approval. They must get a permit from the city and a license from the state. The process can take several weeks.

At least six other restaurants are still waiting for their privilege to serve wine and alcohol to their customers, and there are a few hotels. The Sleep Inn, The Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites have applied for resort status. The city clerk tells us Logan's, Papito's, and Stix are scheduled to go before the city November 2nd and apply for their permits for resort status.

In June, Flowood voters passed the by-the-glass liquor referendum. Parts of Pearl are also pushing for liquor by the glass sales. This month, Rankin County supervisors approved a plan to allow beer sales near parts if the reservoir.

Fred Cerami, who owns Cerami's Italian Restaurant, has been serving alcohol for the last two weeks, and he's already noticed an increase in business.

"It's giving the people of Rankin County, the city of Flowood, the opportunity to have a glass of wine with their dinner," he said. "They don't have to travel as far after they have an alcoholic beverage."

Cerami, who is originally from Brooklyn, says his customers enjoy drinking wine or liquor with their meals. He opened his restaurant in 1977 came to Mississippi to go to college in Hattiesburg. He says he paid his way through school by selling hot dogs on street corners.

His hot dog wagon is now his salad bad. It reminds him of his past, but he says the future of his business and the community depends on their ability to grow.

"We're going to get fine restaurants coming in, we're going to get steakhouses coming in," he said. "It's in the making right now."