The River Pig Saloon has been fined by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for selling and allowing customers to take open containers of alcohol off its premises and into a common area at the Box Factory.

The restaurant, on NW Arizona Avenue, has agreed to pay $5,660 in fines by April 15 for the Oct. 27, 2019 incident, according to the stipulated agreement approved by the OLCC on Thursday. If the restaurant chooses not to pay the fine, it could face a 36-day suspension for the violations. The fines or suspension are higher than normal because an owner was involved, according to the agreement.

The commission also fined the White Water Taphouse on NW Bond Street for not closing and continuing to serve alcohol past the 10 p.m. COVID-19-related restrictions imposed by the governor. The incident occurred Aug. 8 after an inspector saw 20 patrons continuing to consume alcohol, according to OLCC documents.

The owners of the taphouse have been fined $3,795 by April 15 or serve a 23-day suspension. The fines were increased because the violation involved more than one patron, according to the documents.

Ramzy Hattar, the owner of the River Pig Saloon in Bend and Portland, said the incident was a misunderstanding. The business’s lease includes the common area, or the breezeway, and he believed the alcohol permit covered the same area and didn’t need a temporary permit to serve alcohol during the event.

“The confusion is that the breezeway is in our lease as an area we can serve,” Hattar said. “Thats why we have large barn doors there, but we rarely open it, especially during COVID-19. We were under the assumption that it was part of our area approved by the OLCC.”

Since this incident, River Pig Saloon, named after the nickname given to men who rode the logs down the Deschutes River to the mill, has sought approval from the OLCC to include this area, Hattar said.

The OLCC charged the business on Aug. 11 for these violations. The standard sanction for one of the violations is cancelation of the license, according to the OLCC. The normal sanction for the second violation was a fine or license suspension. The OLCC added two additional days to the possible suspension and fines because one of the licensed owners was involved, according to the OLCC document.

Hattar said his cousin, Shadi Hattar, had been a co-owner of the business, but is no longer. The restaurant has been in business in Bend for four years.