Wick's has an ATC hearing and will open on October 7 ... and an excellent LEO review for the Windsor.

According to the legal notices in Tuesday's Tribune, the owners of Wick's have a spot on the agenda during the next local alcoholic beverage board meeting on Tuesday, October 6.

HD2226179 RETAILER - BEER, WINE AND LIQUOR NEW STATE STREET WICKS LLC, 225 STATE ST, NEW ALBANY D/B/A WICKS PIZZA & PUB

I'd have predicted an October 7 opening date, but the newspaper's Daniel Suddeath beat me to it on Twitter earlier this evening.

In other downtown news, the Windsor Restaurant and Garden scored a great review by veteran food writer Robin Garr in Wednesday's LEO Weekly.

Young co-chefs Justin McMillen and Cory Cuff were barely old enough to legally sample their own wine list when the classy dining room and bar, with its lovable New Orleans-style patio, reopened in the old New Albany Inn last year.

Their style belies their age, with a sophisticated and consistently well-prepared evening menu and a fine, simpler set of soup, salad and sandwiches at the noonday hour.

It’s well worth the trip, even for Hoosier-wary Kentuckians.

Finally, it appears that Liquidz, a bar projected for Main Street, is not to be. I learned Wednesday night that the prospective operators have been unable to secure financing, and the sign pictured here back in June is gone. According to the rumorama, the plan had been to ask for permission to paint the building flagrant purple and open a gay bar. Maybe some day.

Previously at NAC: Toast on Market sez: Open September 29.

Wick's debut in New Albany to be slightly delayed.

An extended excerpt, and for one reason only. See below.

Wick’s Pizza opening in New Albany pushed back to fall, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune).

The owner of Wick’s Pizza Inc. said it will likely be the end of September when the Louisville-based restaurant chain opens its New Albany location.

Getting a state liquor license has been the holdup, according to owner Michael Wickliffe, as he originally eyed a late summer opening date for a New Albany Wick’s.

The restaurant will fill the former Speakeasy bar and jazz club building at 225 State St. Located within a historic district, Wick’s is eligible for alcohol permits designated for the riverfront area, of which there are only a certain number allotted for New Albany.

The Speakeasy’s permit was voided after it closed. The permits cost $1,000 plus an annual renewal fee.

Mayor Doug England said administration helps restaurants seeking permits by petitioning the state on behalf of the establishment.

“What we’re trying to do is spur the economy,” England said, adding that when New Albany’s permits run out, he plans on asking the state for more than what was originally portioned, similar to Clarksville.

Here's the confusing part for me: I spent a good twenty minutes this morning reading the Indiana code (something I wouldn't recommend to anyone interested in preserving his or her sanity), and I still cannot see the relationship between the number of permits (10) permitted in a historic district defined by fairly esoteric criteria (the presence of an opera house?), and the subsequent passage detailing the riverfront development area guidelines.

The riverfront development passage does not refer back to the historic district description, and by my reading, I can't see that there is a limit on the number of three-ways. But I don't doubt that City Hall is on top of it, either. Perhaps this is the reason why the Brewers of Indiana Guild retains an attorney to interpret, although I don't want to squander the retainer asking him the answer because it doesn't matter that much.

It's my guess that by autumn, downtown is going to somewhere near a practical limit for establishments vending alcoholic beverages. Maybe not, and there's still room for a martini bar and port lodge.

I know we have lawyerly readers, and if you're one, are you reading the Indiana codes the same way as I am?

These seem to be the relevant passages:

IC 7.1-3-20-16
Airport restaurants; restaurants in certain economic development areas; redevelopment projects or districts, historic river vessels, cultural centers, historic districts

IC 7.1-3-20-16.1
Municipal riverfront development project; alcoholic beverage permit requirements

A bar in front of me, frontal lobotomies, et al.

Tuesday there was "late breaking" news in the Courier-Journal (4:55 p.m.), and while I've been privately monitoring this controversy for a while, it still seems somehow strange to me that it made the newspaper.

Is there a political angle to all this that I'm missing?

Even Deeper Throat -- are you somewhere in the room?

New Albany business clears hurdle toward liquor license

By unanimous vote, the Floyd County Alcohol Beverage Board today recommended that a liquor license be granted to B&B Bar and Grill at 211 E. Main St. in New Albany.

Lonnie Gibson, a member of the Indiana State Excise Police and one of the local board’s four members, said the recommendation is subject to review and approval by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Three residents spoke in opposition, including Jack Messer, a member of the New Albany City Council and a city police officer. Messer said that a city ordinance to promote restaurants as part of downtown revitalization was not intended to produce “a drinking establishment on every corner.” B&B, which is not yet open, is next door to Connor’s, a restaurant that also serves alcohol.

Carl Holliday and Steve Goodman, who own the property where both restaurants are located, and Robert and Brenda Gresham, owners of B&B, said there were no grounds for denying the license. The Greshams said they had spent more than $10,000 on their kitchen, indicating they intended to sell food and not just alcoholic drinks.

Gibson said reasons for denial, which include substantial community opposition and questions about the reputation of the business owners, didn’t exist in this case.