The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) has cited local restaurants for nearly 40 violations of the vaccine and indoor mask mandates that went into effect over the past month. But as of Tuesday, only one establishment — The Big Board — had received more than a verbal or written warning.

The bar has already received two fines of $1,000 each and verbal and written warnings for various violations, including not requiring vaccination verification, staff members not wearing masks, and not posting required signage informing patrons of the policy. Now, the popular H Street NE burger and craft beer spot will face the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) board at a hearing. Based on its investigation, the liquor board and D.C. attorney general Karl Racine’s office can impose more fines, or suspend or revoke The Big Board’s liquor license. Washingtonian’s Jessica Sidman first reported the news of the ABRA review.

“As has always been the case for us, everyone is welcome,” The Big Board tweeted on Jan. 13, suggesting the business wouldn’t be adhering to the new mandate. The bar continued to tweet its “all are welcome” message about a week later, thanking customers for support the “small veteran and family owned restaurant” had received. A subsequent tweet shouted out Henry Rodgers, a Daily Caller correspondent whose GoFundMe raised more than $12,000 for the bar in less than a week. “Any and all donations will be used solely to protect this idea and help us to remain open,” the bar said of the fundraising effort.

https://twitter.com/thebigboarddc/status/1485019971910606852

Brothers Eric and Mark Flannery opened the bar, which features shifting, real-time prices for beers, in 2011.

More than two dozen establishments — including Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery; Charlie Palmer Steak; Archibald’s strip club; Café Citron; Bar Elena, and others — have received warnings from ABRA for reportedly violating D.C. health protocols. But few establishments have occupied the space right at the center of the “COVID culture wars,” as Sidman put it, quite like The Big Board has. Just look at the latest Google reviews, which include a mix of negative comments for “multiple health code violations — will not return” and positive ones for “standing up for freedom.”

The news of The Big Board’s ABRA hearing comes following a large anti-vaccine protest on the National Mall. At least two local restaurants enforcing the mandate were targeted by protesters. Old Ebbitt Grill downtown called police to disperse a crowd of protesters outside the downtown restaurant, a spokesperson told Washingtonian. And on H Street, right across the street from The Big Board, more than a dozen people blocked the entrance to vegan restaurant Fare Well. “They clearly didn’t want to come in, they wanted to argue,” owner Doren Peterson told Washingtonian.

The ABC board is set to review The Big Board’s case during a closed meeting on Jan. 26, according to an ABRA spokesperson. Locals familiar with Kiss Tavern will recall ABRA’s process. The Shaw bar lost its liquor license last spring for its “willful” violation, in ABRA’s words, of the COVID-19 mandates. The owner, Eyob Asbeha, denied all allegations from ABRA and launched a petition to fight against what it called a “targeted attack” on a small, Black-owned business.

The Big Board has not responded to a DCist request for comment on the investigation or whether it is preparing any legal actions of its own.

In its latest thread over the weekend, the bar’s account tweeted: “We understand that not everybody agrees with this message and we fully support your right to hold and express that opinion.”