St. Mary’s County alcohol board approves multiple licenses, renewals and a trade-name change

The Alcohol Beverage Board of Saint Mary's County on March 13 unanimously approved several licensing actions, including the transfer of a Class B restaurant beer, wine and liquor license to Darren West for Drift Inn/Drift N Crab House, the issuance of a Class B license to El Coqui LLC with outdoor service and catering privileges, a trade-name change for Hermanville C Store to Aspen Liquors and a blanket approval of 2025 renewals.

Board members approved the transfer of the license for the business at 41310 Riverview Road in Mechanicsville to Darren West, subject to two outstanding administrative clearances: a fire marshal use-and-occupancy approval and a comptroller retail-sales (control tax) release. The board attached a 90-day condition for those clearances to be provided.

The board said the transfer motion carried unanimously. The board record indicates the transfer vote was approved on the condition the fire marshal and Comptroller filings are completed; the board did not adopt any additional operational restrictions.

Darren West, the applicant, described his local restaurant experience and said he intends to keep the Drift operation “pretty much the same” as under the prior owner and to enroll servers in training. “Everything we’ve pretty much kept the same as what M and M had…I mean, check all IDs, everybody goes to training,” West said during the hearing.

Separately, the board approved an application by Martha Lopez Perez and Roberto Lopez Torres for a Class B restaurant license at 21030 Point Lookout Road in Callaway, trading as El Coqui LLC, with permission for outdoor service and for catering privileges. The applicants told the board they plan to staff 12–15 servers and that staff training is scheduled in about two weeks. “We’re gonna have the training in 2 weeks,” Martha Lopez Perez said.

The board also approved a requested trade-name change for Hermanville C Store to Aspen Liquors and issued blanket approval for the county’s 2025 license renewals. Board staff had reported no unresolved objections for the renewals before the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Transfer: Drift Inn Crab House LLC (41310 Riverview Road, Mechanicsville) — transfer of Class B restaurant beer, wine and liquor license to Darren West; condition: fire marshal U&O and Comptroller retail-sales release to be provided within 90 days; outcome: approved (unanimous).

- New license: El Coqui LLC (21030 Point Lookout Road, Callaway) — Class B restaurant license with extension of premises for outdoor service and catering privileges; outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Trade-name change: Hermanville C Store to Aspen Liquors — outcome: approved (unanimous).

- 2025 renewals: blanket approval of 2025 license renewals presented to the board — outcome: approved (unanimous).

The board’s administrator reminded applicants of the county’s appeal process: any licensee, applicant or a group of at least 10 residents or property owners may appeal a final decision of the board to the Circuit Court of Saint Mary's County within 30 days and must prepay transcription costs for the hearing record.

Board members did not attach extra operational conditions beyond those noted above. Several applicants described steps they said they had taken to control outdoor areas and to train staff; the board’s approvals reflect those representations and the administrative conditions noted for the Drift transfer.

The board meeting record shows a routine consent-style handling of the items after applicants answered questions about staffing, training and fencing for outdoor areas. No objections or recorded votes against the listed actions were announced during the meeting.