New Bar Cited For Underage Drinking

By Rohma Abbas

Tuts Bar and Grill, a watering hole on 25A near Stony Brook University, was cited for underage sale of alcohol to a minor on Nov. 8, according to a press release issued by the Suffolk County Police Department. This was the first violation for the new business.

The bartender, Kevin Calvagno, 30, of Centereach, was arrested and charged with sale of alcohol to a minor, according to the report. Amer Said Hasan, 20, was issued a summons for underage person's possession of an alcoholic beverage with the intent to consume and Haten Ahmed Fayez, the manager, was issued five citations by the Brookhaven Town Fire Marshal.

The owner of the bar, Arsani Koulta, challenged the press release, which said the bar had closed due to State Liquor Authority inspection. “We were never shut down,” he said. “The cops asked if we wanted to stay open, and there was no reason to keep the payroll going at 4 a.m.”

Koulta said the bartender never directly served the minor and that he got the drink from a friend who was over 21.

Tuts is the third such business to take root in the spot across the street from the Long Island Rail Road station, and the second to encounter problems with underage drinking. The previous business, the Full Moon Café, also encountered numerous underage drinking problems and eventually went out of business.

The bar has also gone through a series of promoters who have been hurtful to the bar’s public image. “We were new in this area,” Koulta asserted. “We had to find the good promoters by weeding out the bad ones. It’s a step we had to take, and it was not something we could pick up overnight.”

“People have had problems with this place,”  Tuts' new promoters, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “We make sure everything is smooth. When there are problems with others, there are problems with us.”