Transfer of liquor license and T-Road assets sparks conflict
By Matt Lit
After three years in business, T-Road Pub, a local restaurant, bar and noted community space, has shut down. The pub closed its doors in late February amidst the sale of the building, owned by Brandon Ford.
New building owner, Alex Barone, plans to convert the restaurant and bar into Amore’s, serving Italian-Cuban cuisine. Barone expressed a desire to keep it as a communal space and continue events that T-Road had introduced.
The sale and T-Road’s closure was not without contention.
The building’s previous owner, Ford, sold the building to Barone, a 10-year Baca resident. The sale was completed Feb. 12. While specific details of the sale were not made available, the building purchase paperwork did not include the T-Road business nor its assets, according to the Booths.
T-Road owners Michael and Lori Booth’s decision to shutter the pub came in December last year. Their plan was to close T-Road on Jan. 1. This happened to coincide with Ford’s interest in selling the building. According to the Booths, Ford suggested they keep the business open as it would be more enticing for a potential new building owner to have a viable restaurant already in operation.
In late December, the Booths met Barone, who said he was excited with the idea of purchasing the building. Barone explained he planned to partner with the Negrin family to operate the restaurant. The Negrins had operated restaurants in the past and Barone said they would work together to create a new family-oriented restaurant.
Despite initially wanting to close the restaurant as planned, the Booths decided it would be best to keep the restaurant open longer to accommodate events that had been previously scheduled and to create a more seamless transition to the new owner.
Based on this decision, the Booths drafted a purchase agreement in January for Barone outlining three scenarios, each with its own price and inclusion of equipment: the brewing side, the pub itself, and the pizza operation. The Booths said in the purchase agreement that they could offer their services for a three- to six-month period in an effort to ease the transition. The contract also specified that the Booths would run the water compliance (a state mandate related to testing) and operate the liquor license until a transfer was completed.
The Booths initiated the liquor license transfer paperwork and paid the $750 fee. They sent Barone the purchase paperwork on Jan. 20 and, receiving no response, sent it again on Jan. 30. The Booths did not receive a response from Barone by the time the building purchase was completed on Feb. 12. The Booths’ rental agreement with Ford had expired in September 2023 and they were operating in good faith without a lease.
When the Feb. 24 hearing date for the liquor license transfer approached, the Booths said they still didn’t have a signed purchase agreement and asked the Town of Crestone Board of Trustees to delay the hearing until March.
The Booths texted Barone advising they delayed the transfer hearing and also sent a detailed email outlining the reason. The Feb. 23 email reads in part:
“As you know we have submitted the purchase agreement several times for your review. Yesterday you stated in our phone conversation that you have not had time to review that document. With that, we are going to move the transfer of the liquor license to another date to allow you to have the time you need to review and sign our purchase agreement as presented.”
The town also notified Barone of the delay. Still, Barone said he was surprised to arrive for the hearing and find it delayed until March. He insisted he had not received the purchase offer sent a month prior nor anything about the transfer hearing delay, claiming he hadn’t checked his email or texts for some time.
According to the Booths, when Barone learned the hearing was delayed, he called and asked to meet them at the T-Road. This is when everything went south, according to both the Booths and Barone.
Michael Booth said he was only expecting Barone and was surprised to be confronted by Barone, his father Chuck, and the Negrin family including Sergio Sr., wife Roxanne, and son Jonathan. According to Booth, the meeting turned into a verbal assault against him, initiated by Barone’s father.
The following morning, Booth arrived at T-Road to do his daily inventory. He found the back door unlocked and the security system and cameras unplugged. Suspecting a break-in, he called the sheriff’s office to report it. Upon greeting the deputy at the front door, he was alerted to a lease termination with a same-day notice to vacate posted on the front of the building, which the deputy attempted to enforce, according to Booth.
Booth said he made it clear to the deputy that he was not leaving as the building still contained “$2,000 worth of liquor and food and… tens of thousands (of dollars) worth of assets” that he owned. After two more deputies and Barone arrived, there were additional negotiations as to what Booth would be allowed to take from the premises, and he was given one day to vacate. The Booths reached out to the community, including Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and received help removing the assets, donating much of it to the community.
Information from the Saguache County Sheriff’s deputy report had not been received by The Crestone Eagle’s press time.
The Booths are in the process of questioning the legality of the termination notice since that type of notice should allow for up to 28 days after posting for a tenant to vacate, according to Colorado Revised Statute 13-40-107. The Booths claim their attorney agreed; they should have been given time to vacate. With no active lease agreement, it’s unclear what, if anything, Barone was required to provide to the Booths as far as a notice to vacate.
Barone dismissed all of the controversy presented by the Booths.
He said he is sorry about the misunderstandings and wishes nothing but the best for the Booths.
“I think they’re great people. We had negotiations… and it seemed that they ended up vacating and I wish them the absolute best in their endeavors and their retirement and whatever their life pursues,” he said. “I hope to try and contribute as much as I can back to this community.”
Barone said he wants to get the restaurant open and will do so without a liquor license for now. The goal is to create a restaurant — run by the Negrin family — with a family-oriented setting. While Barone is still working out the details of Amore’s, he said he’s committed to continuing live music and other events that were originally hosted by the T-Road Pub.
In the meantime, he said, they are working to get the restaurant opened and hope to announce an opening date soon.