LEONARDTOWN, Md. — On Thursday, July 10, 2025, the members of the St. Mary’s County Alcohol Beverage Board voted unanimously to impose a $2,500 fine and a one-day license suspension on The Front Porch in Leonardtown for serving alcohol to a 19-year-old in April. The 19-year-old was working as a confidential informant for the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office as part of its Alcohol Enforcement Unit’s compliance checks.
The Front Porch will have its liquor license suspended from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 13, 2025, during which time staff will receive additional training.
According to the report from the Sheriff’s Office and testimony from The Front Porch’s owner, the informant entered the establishment accompanied by a corporal and a sergeant from the Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division, all dressed in civilian attire. Their server was washing dishes in the back of the restaurant when the informant approached around 4:40 p.m., at which point the restaurant had few staff on hand because it was transitioning to its evening shift. The informant approached the hostess stand and, after being greeted by the server, informed her that they had been waiting outside for 10 minutes without being served. After being seated at the bar, the informant successfully ordered a glass of pinot grigio and was not asked to provide any identification before or after being served.
As a result, the management of The Front Porch was called before the Alcohol Beverage Board to face a potential license suspension — a consequence which, according to statements from both The Front Porch’s management and board members during the meeting, could have resulted in the restaurant’s closure.
This marks the third time The Front Porch has failed an alcohol compliance check in as many years — notable given that it went more than 15 years beforehand without failing a single check.
According to The Front Porch’s management, the establishment has all servers sign a form upon employment that states in the first line that the consequence for failing to check ID is immediate termination. In this case, the server had worked for more than five years and was on her way to a management position but, as a result of the failed compliance check, had her contract terminated and lost her health insurance, which was conditional on employment.
The owner of The Front Porch, Jefferey Lewis, said he had taken significant steps to ensure employees were checking IDs — requiring all servers to be TAM (Techniques of Alcohol Management) certified and implementing an in-house system of compliance checks. However, despite several approaches, Lewis said he could not explain why the business had failed these compliance checks.
“It’s not working,” Lewis said, addressing the board. “I really feel like I’ve done everything I can do to come into compliance.”
The members of the Alcohol Beverage Board expressed sympathy in their discussion with The Front Porch’s management but also held them accountable for a third consecutive failed compliance test.
“I do get a sense that you guys are trying to do everything you can,” Board Vice Chairman Richard Watts said. “[But] despite your apparent best efforts, we still find ourselves here.”
Board Chairman David Willenborg struck a similar tone, stating that The Front Porch was “one of the centerpiece businesses in town,” but that “other businesses aren’t coming in here with three strikes.”
Ultimately, a $2,500 fine and one-day suspension of The Front Porch’s liquor license — on a day of their choosing — was passed in a unanimous vote. But Willenborg issued a clear warning about what would happen if the business faced another violation.
“The next time they’re here, it’s over with,” he said.
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A child can decide they want to be called a different pronoun and be given birth control and puberty blockers without their parents consent, but at 18 they are not “mature enough” to decide they want a beer or cigarette. SMH
its ok if you feel like alcohol is consensual + Maryland does alcohol wrong. Its also ok to think, as I do, that you shouldn’t have alcohol + drive. ++