Gabe's Roadhouse 'business as usual' after taxes paid
The owners of Gabe's Roadhouse in St. Paul have paid the sales taxes owed to the state and the bar has resumed full operations, state officials and the bar's manager said.
General Manager Nick Wozniak said in an e-mail that the bar had been working with Omni Financial to resolve the tax issues with the state.
Officials from the Minnesota Department of Revenue and state Department of Public Safety on Tuesday began seizing cash and alcohol from the bar as a last resort.
Terri Steenblock, director of the revenue department's collections division, said Gabe's owner George Wozniak had been notified several times that his bar would be unable to sell alcohol if the taxes weren't paid.
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Steenblock said Wednesday that officials had possession of cash and liquor at the bar but that Wozniak came up with the more than $39,000 in taxes he owed. That allowed officials to leave the cash and liquor at the bar.
"He was able to come up with full payment, and so we didn't have to take the items out of the building," Steenblock said.
Steenblock said the action is one of the last things her department does to bring a business into compliance.
Nick Wozniak referred further questions to a representative at Omni Financial, who could not immediately be reached.
"Gabe's will continue business as usual," Wozniak said in the e-mail.
Steenblock said she's hopeful Gabe's will stay up to date on its state taxes.
"We had a long conversation yesterday and talked about and took some time to educate him about what would happen if he didn't stay in compliance," she said.
Steenblock said the Minnesota Department of Revenue was looking at other businesses that owe taxes and said similar action was being considered against them.