Image Credit: PEXELS

Free tacos couldn't spare a Shuswap food truck from getting fined after hosting an AC/DC tribute band last summer.

The province's liquor regulator covertly sent two investigators to Scotch Creek where they found the Be Teased food truck had strayed into an outdoor event more similar to "a bar or a nightclub," according to a March 20 regulator decision.

The food truck is on an acre of land that is dual zoned as residential and commercial, the decision said. The facility extends behind the food truck and includes a storage area, a stage and outhouses.

Be Teased was fined $7,000 because it allowed people to dance in front of the stage and it kept serving alcohol even after the kitchen closed.

It was noise complaints and reports of "unruly patrons" leaving the Scotch Creek property from RCMP that prompted the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch investigators to attend the tribute band event, Aug. 17, 2024.

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For $45 each, the two unidentified inspectors got two tickets, wrist bands indicating they were of legal drinking age and two free tacos, according to the decision. Patrons were invited to bring their own chairs to the outdoor event, which the investigators did, but returned them after finding a couch with a view of the event.

The investigators noted fewer menu options for food than would normally be available and what appeared to be a greater focus on serving alcohol than food. A menu brought to them only included drink options, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, while food was restricted to just tacos and ice cream.

One of the investigators said they were still hungry after the tacos while the other didn't like them.

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Once the band started, the focus in the facility "changed from food to a focus on serving alcohol." The kitchen closed at 9:30 p.m., but alcohol sales continued and the band played until 10:40 p.m.

"It looked like an event that would be held by a liquor primary licensee, not a food primary event," an investigator testified.

People were also dancing in front of the stage, which is generally not allowed without a licence for "patron participation entertainment." Though food truck employees warned its customers of this in advance and passed around a petition asking people to help them get that licence, they made no effort to stop people from dancing, according to the decision.

The food truck's property was already closed for the season during the February hearing. The regulator chose not to suspend its licence and instead handed Be Teased a $7,000 fine with an April 30 deadline for payment.

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