MANKATO — The liquor license of a Mankato restaurant that’s had run-ins with state regulators and local police has been revoked, meaning alcohol can longer be served.
The Mankato City Council on Monday night pulled the liquor license, effective at midnight, of Los Dos Primos, although the elected officials declined to formally deliver a permanent revocation under city rules for committing four infractions — including serving alcohol to dozens of underage drinkers — in less than 365 days.
That means the Mexican restaurant at 2041 Blazing Star Drive might someday return to serving margaritas, Coronas and other alcoholic drinks. But for that to happen, Los Dos Primos will first need to get right with the Minnesota Department of Revenue on delinquent taxes and persuade the City Council to restore the license.
Revenue Department staff informed the city two weeks ago that the establishment was delinquent on state taxes. Under state law, the local licensing jurisdiction, once it is made aware of unpaid state taxes, is required to warn the license holder its license is in jeopardy if the taxes are not paid.
The establishment was informed both by email and certified mail that the City Council would be taking action Monday night, according to City Clerk Renae Kopischke, and receipt was verified.
For Council member Jessica Hatanpa, the fact that the owner or manager did not attend the meeting to offer an explanation or answer questions was enough to support permanent revocation, based on city policy and a vote last month that calls for revocation when four “strikes” are recorded.
“It’s a fourth strike,” Hatanpa said of the unpaid state taxes. “You knew the rules. You violated the rules.”
But other council members were reluctant to take that step Monday night, supporting the state-mandated revocation that allows for potential restoration of the license if the back taxes are paid and the Revenue Department issues a clearance certificate under state law.
“I don’t see it as a fourth strike,” Mayor Najwa Massad said, differentiating between violations of local rules and a failure to pay state taxes.
Council member Michael McLaughlin agreed, suggesting the council revoke the license but wait to rule on whether Los Dos Primos should face a permanent revocation under the city’s strike matrix. McLaughlin tossed out a theoretical scenario where the restaurant’s accountant steps forward to accept responsibility for mistakenly failing to make the tax payment.
Under Mankato’s strike matrix for liquor licenses, the tax violation does qualify as a strike, Kopischke said. And the council on March 23 — when imposing a $1,000 civil penalty on the restaurant and a seven-day suspension of alcohol sales for its earlier violations — essentially gave a formal warning about the ramifications of one more violation.
The most significant of the previous strikes occurred on May 1, 2025, when Mankato police entered the restaurant on the city’s far eastern side at about 9:30 p.m. for a standard bar check.
“Upon entry, officers encountered a chaotic scene in which numerous individuals attempted to flee or hide,” a memo to the council summarized. “Over 80 underage individuals were identified and 59 were cited for underage consumption of alcohol. During the investigation, individuals admitted to being served alcohol without showing identification, and it was learned that others presented vertical (under-21) IDs or used fraudulent IDs to obtain alcohol. Staff made no attempt to confiscate the fraudulent IDs, stop serving alcohol, or to contact law enforcement.”
That incident resulted in two strikes — one for the underage sales and one for the restaurant management’s failure to adequately train staff on techniques to prevent alcohol sales to minors. A third strike came on Dec. 2 when the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division notified the city that Los Dos Primos had obtained liquor from another alcoholic beverage retailer. State liquor law requires bars and restaurants to purchase only from licensed wholesale distributors and manufacturers.
So the March 23 resolution, in addition to imposing the $1,000 fine and week-long suspension, stated that the establishment had reached its limit and “that if there is a fourth penalty before the expiration of the strikes at midnight on May 1, 2026, the license is revoked.”
Even as the strikes piled up, Los Dos Primos was missing deadlines for renewing its annual liquor license, and the license still hadn’t been issued even as the existing license expires at the end of April. The council on April 13 approved the renewal but made that action contingent on “the payment of license fees, property taxes, utility bills, and other financial claims” and the provision of required documents such as proof of insurance.
“To date, the renewal has not been issued,” the memo to the council stated.
The Free Press left phone and email messages with Los Dos Primos, inviting a manager or owner to answer questions. One unanswered question is whether Los Dos Primos would continue to operate as a food-only restaurant. The restaurant’s Facebook page has in the past focused its marketing heavily on drink specials, particularly its margaritas, although the page has been mostly silent for the past month.