Charlotte restaurants, bars struggle with low supply due to liquor shortage

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Restaurants and bars have weathered so many challenges this past year, but the pain is not over -- owners said they are now struggling due to a liquor shortage.

Kelly Minton has been tending bar for 12 years. He works for KiKi, one of the top bars in Charlotte and said he’s never seen anything like this.

“I mean, we would run out of things for a week or two,” he said.

Due to the shortage, at Supperland, there was only one bottle of Jack Daniels to last the entire night Saturday.

“Some of it is just supply chain issues, whether there are glass shortages, staffing shortages, or trucking shortages or other things like that,” said Jon Rosenberg, general manager at Supperland.

Part of the issue is that North Carolina is a control state, which means the government strictly regulates the flow of alcohol. South Carolina has some shortage too, although it’s not a control state and shortages are not as severe.

“At this point, were hearing so many excuses that I just wish the state would be like, ‘Listen, were dealing with this. This is our fault,’” Minton said.

Some of the items in short supply are Triple Sec, Tequila, Ketel One and on occasion, Jack Daniels. This means there are a number of drinks a customer might ask for only to be disappointed.

“It ends up being we don’t have it and our guest look at us like, ‘Well why don’t you have this?’ It should be this, it should be that, and it’s tough to keep saying no,” Rosenberg said.

“It’s very, very hard to operate a bar right now in North Carolina, just because of shortages,” Minton said.

Bartenders are asking for the public to be patient. It’s been like this for months and reportedly, the ABC board has not offered any specifics as to when the situation might improve.

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