BUSHWICK — Roberta’s Pizza’s tiki tent — a haven for disco parties, film screenings and local booze-filled bonding — has been operating illegally all summer, the venue's owners admitted.
And now the iconic restaurant’s outdoor bar faces a fight for its life, Williamsburg Community Board 1 members warned.
"Clearly there's a notion in this neighborhood you're doing something wrong," said Mieszko Kalika, the board's liquor license committee chair, noting that residents had complained about the noise and unannounced tent beside Roberta's building.
Two partners from Roberta’s admitted at Thursday night's liquor license committee meeting that they had been running the tiki bar without a permit, but they claimed they had been unaware of the violation.
"We were informed this was illegitimate so we're trying to legitimize it," one of the partners said of the tiki bar, for which they have applied for a liquor license. The partners declined to give their names or to comment further about the situation.
Kalika suggested that Roberta’s representatives come to the next full board meeting to defend their application to angry neighbors.
"Questions will be raised, without a question of a doubt," Kalika said.
