Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. The second part will run next week.
A three-year battle to obtain a beer license may have saved a financially struggling Monty’s Den in the late 1970s.
Aztec Center opened in 1968 as the first student union built in the California State University system. It brought to campus the Red and Black Bowl and two new food services ? Casa Real and Monty’s Den.
Casa Real, now the large conference room located in the upper level of Aztec Center, was once a formal sit-down restaurant with meals costing up to $1.49.
Monty’s Den continued to serve hamburger specials and daily entrees, not unlike those served at the Commons eateries.
The plan to create a unique alternative to campus dining failed because students still opted for the two main campus cafeterias. The concept of Casa Real was original to the SDSU campus, but the restaurant closed after a year due to low patronage.
In Monty’s first three years, its payroll was trimmed heavily and the Associated Students’ 2-percent commission averaged only $400 a month, according to The Daily Aztec archives.
In short, Monty’s Den was in trouble.
By 1975, Aztec Shops and McDonald’s were bidding to replace Monty’s. Students petitioned against McDonald’s and received a ballot vote, in which 3 percent of the student body participated.
Aztec Shops won the interior to Monty’s Den and applied for a beer license two months later, Feb. 11, 1975. It was said the license would be awarded within 90 days, but 10 months later the licensing process was halted due to a protest by a local store owner.
Monty’s Den closed shortly after because of declining sales.
Protest against the license came from Robert Williams, owner of Miles Liquor on El Cajon Boulevard. Williams told The Daily Aztec in 1976 that he believed the license wasn’t necessary because there were many restaurants in the college area that served beer.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control denied the license in September 1977 on grounds that the state could be held liable because Aztec Shops is a quasi-state corporation.
To avoid the liability issue, Aztec Shops advertised for subcontractors on the theory that the subcontractor selling the alcohol would be liable and not the state.
Several firms indicated interest, but Henry and Michael Goldy were the only ones that submitted an actual proposal. According to Harvey Goodfriend, Aztec Shops manager, Henry Goldy had been in the restaurant business and held an alcohol license in San Diego for 30 years. Their proposal was accepted and the new license application was posted Dec. 22, 1977.
In May 1978, an investigation continued over filed protests with the ABC district. The San Diego Evangelical Association and Williams, the owner of Miles Liquor who had protested the first license, contested on the grounds of Rule 66 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. The rule states a license can not be granted within a year of being denied for the same place.
But the ABC didn’t agree, and Henry’s Place began serving beer inside the newly renovated Monty’s Den on Sept. 5, 1978.
Food sales ? with the addition of beer taps ? increased 60 percent. Finally, the uniqueness of the failing Monty’s Den was given the respect it deserved.
