Did you know that a 60 year old woman was denied a drink?

Utah's stiff liquor laws and crack-on-the-head polices for violators can create a Catch-22 for restaurant owners who invest millions into their business, no matter how hard they try to avoid mistakes.

Last Monday, a couple who went into the newly opened Iggy's Sports Grill in Centerville for dinner and drinks walked out in a huff without ordering after the woman was denied ordering a cocktail because she hadn't brought her purse and couldn't produce ID to prove she was of age.

She is 60 years old.

But here is the restaurant's dilemma.

The owner of the Iggy's chain lost about $200,000 in potential sales in November because the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission imposed a two-week delay for the opening of the Centerville Iggy's because an Iggy's waiter in St. George served a beer to an underage decoy seven months earlier.

In addition to the $8,000 fine and other punishments for that restaurant, the commission used the violation to impose a two-week delay in opening another restaurant in the chain.

The owner said at the time that he tries to make sure all 800 employees always comply with the laws, but once in a while, obviously, someone slips up.

So an ID-for-everyone policy might be one way to prevent such costly violations. But then you run the risk of offending 60-year-olds and losing customers. more