New owners, new life for Gitana

Jackson Bell

Gitana restaurant, once plagued with a rash of problems like drunken

melees, has new owners, a new approach to business -- and now the

state’s permission to serve liquor again.

The state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control gave the

restaurant, which lost its liquor license Feb. 13 during an ownership

change, another permit Tuesday. But at the request of city officials,

the permits’ conditions have been restricted to curb repeats of past

alcohol-related problems.

The liquor license for Gitana, 260 E. Magnolia Blvd., has 20

provisions that include no happy hour, dancing or cover charges, and

a security guard who must be on the premises during certain hours,

said Tim Clark, the department’s Van Nuys district administrator.

“These are all basic things to ensure that Gitana will be a

restaurant as opposed to a cocktail lounge, bar or nightclub,” Clark

said.

“We look at every application on its own merit, past history and

potentials down the road. This is a different operation” from the

previous incarnation, Clark added.

City and police officials agree. They filed separate protests

March 1 upon learning of the liquor license application, but withdrew

them in the middle of May after the provisions were agreed upon, he

said.

The Burbank Police Department responded to 73 calls at Gitana last

year. The complaints ranged from serious ones such as assaults with a

deadly weapon to drunken driving, Capt. Gordon Bowers said, adding

that at least one officer was injured while breaking up a brawl.

Bowers also said that every patrol officer in the department --

including many vice/narcotic officers and detectives -- has responded

to problems at the nightclub.

“We would like to see the restaurant have the opportunity to serve

alcohol to patrons that want it,” he said. “We get essentially no

calls from other restaurants [in the city], and we hope this one is

the same.”

City Council members yanked the former owner’s conditional- use

permit in September because of the increase in violence at the

restaurant. But Mayor Marsha Ramos said she is more comfortable with

the business now, since it has transformed from a nightclub into a

restaurant.

“I like to see [Gitana] attract a lot of visitors so they can dine

at the restaurant and enjoy the atmosphere,” Ramos said. “But the

alcohol consumption has to be kept in check because if too much

alcohol is consumed, it affects the safety of downtown.”

The owners, Joseph and Odette Georges, did not return phone calls

for comment Tuesday.