Kiss Tavern, a restaurant and hookah lounge in Shaw, has lost its liquor license for the business’ “willful” violation of the city’s COVID-19 precautions, and alleged attempts to evade enforcement, according to D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.

Kiss marks the first D.C. business to lose its liquor license over COVID-19 restriction violations, according to an ABRA spokesperson. Local nightlife blog Barred in D.C. was first to tweet the news.

According to an ABRA order dated March 17, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issued a notice to Kiss from D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine’s office on March 9. The notice suspends Kiss’ liquor license for violating “various emergency rules and orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic” on Jan. 27 and Jan. 29 of 2021. It claims that on those dates, the bar failed to enforce the city’s mask mandate, operated after permitted hours, failed to comply with social distancing guidelines, and allowed patrons to smoke hookah, among other violations.

In a phone call with DCist/WAMU, Kiss’ owner, Eyob Asbeha, denied nearly all of the allegations made by ABRA.

“All of them are false,” Asbeha said of ABRA’s allegations. He said that Kiss did permit smoking hookah, but also claimed that other businesses in D.C. have also allowed hookah services during the pandemic.

Under D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s current executive order, hookah lounges must remain closed unless they operate as a licensed food establishment with ABRA. At the time of the violations described, Bowser’s order also required on-site alcohol sales to stop at 10 p.m.

ABRA’s order describes that on Jan. 29, an undercover investigator observed customers smoking hookah but “did not observe any food being served.” The allegations continue: “Despite being after 10 p.m., the investigator observed full shots at various tables.”

The investigator alleges that Kiss also violated the city’s indoor dining capacity laws by allowing more than 25 people inside the establishment on Jan. 29. (Per Bowser’s order, a restaurant can allow no more than 25% of its occupancy load inside, and Kiss has an occupant load of 99 people.)

Later on in the evening, after more ABRA investigators arrived, the order states that they observed a crowd of patrons unmasked, standing and sitting near a bar, and tables with more than six patrons that were not spaced six feet apart.

According to Asbeha, the investigation on Jan. 29 followed a visit from ABRA investigators two days earlier, on Jan. 27, in which no violations were found. Asbeha alleges that ABRA investigator John Fiorentine appeared mask-less and intoxicated, accusing Asbeha of operating past 12 a.m. In a video of Fiorentine’s confrontation with Asbeha on Jan. 27, reviewed by DCist, Fiorentine identifies himself. (He is masked for a large part of the video.)

“Who’s the board going to believe?” Fiorentine can be heard saying in the video. “John Fiorentine, or you? This tavern, I don’t mind shutting it down.”

In the order, ABRA notes that it focuses its case on the violations witnessed on Jan. 29. Asbeha presented his defense to the board on March 10, but the board did not “find them persuasive,” per the order. In regards to the Jan. 27 incident, the board’s order notes Asbeha’s confrontation with an investigator, but does not name Fiorentine. A spokesperson for ABRA says that at no time during the board’s hearing with Asbeha did he allege that any investigator was intoxicated.

“The Respondent indicates that he has experienced ongoing harassment from investigators and had an angry conversation with an investigator on January 27, 2021,” the order reads. “One unpleasant interaction with an investigator is not sufficient to demonstrate bias.”

Asbeha alleges that the suspension of his liquor license is the latest in a pattern of targeted harassment by ABRA. In 2017, ABRA fined Kiss $1,250 for allowing alcohol consumption past 2 a.m., and in October of last year, Kiss lost its liquor license temporarily after a shooting occurred near the restaurant. ABRA alleged that Asbeha had failed to cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation, and that D.C. Police had observed what appeared to be various instruments related to marijuana in the establishment. (The suspension was later lifted after the board determined the evidence was insufficient to support its allegations.) Kiss was also previously cited for not adhering to D.C.’s coronavirus restrictions on restaurants in July.

The revocation of Kiss’ liquor license marks the first D.C. business to face such enforcement from the city, and Asbeha alleges that it underscores the unfair treatment he faces compared to other small business owners.

The board lays out its argument differently, stating in the order: “the Respondent complains that the punishment requested by the Government is too harsh when compared to other establishments. Nevertheless, the Respondent cannot complain about different treatment when it has a history of serious violations, the ownership was involved in the violations at issue in the present action, the Respondent intentionally violated the District’s COVID-19 rules, and staff actively attempted to evade detection with the knowledge of ownership.”

Asbeha says he plans to challenge the ruling to revoke his liquor license.