BYOB Hot Spot for Underage Drinking?

October 8, 2007 (WPVI) -- We know that underage drinking is a big problem on college campuses, but it appears some local restaurants may be exacerbating the problem by not requiring their clientele to produce identification. Recently we visited one Center City BYOB well known on college campuses for their underage crowd, and saw some shocking images of binge drinking.

"I think if you ask anybody they know about El Azteca," said University of Pennsylvania student Inaya Ahmed.

It is a modest-looking Mexican BYOB on Chestnut Street in Center City. But, among college students we spoke to, El Azteca is known less for its culinary aptitude and more for its laissez faire attitude towards checking the IDs of its customers.

" BYO's. Its a popular spot to to go, out for birthday's and stuff like that. People take a group. You can bring wine. Or, like, El Azteca is pretty popular," Penn student Robert Astrachan told Action News.

Popular students say, if underage teens can get their hands on the alcohol, the staff at the Chestnut Street restaurant isn't asking many questions.

Action News producers paid a visit to the restaurant on a Friday night.

One group of girls from Saint Joseph's University was drinking heavily. They tell us they're under 21. And, they weren't the only ones binge drinking.

Another group of girls told us they were first year students at Villanova. We spotted them with tequila bottles and pitchers of margaritas.

The group of 7 girls, who admitted to being underage inside to our producers, went through at least two liter bottles of tequila. The producers never heard the waiter ask the girls for ID's. Outside, when approached by our cameras, they couldn't produce any form of identification.

"We forgot it at home," said one Villanova student.

Perhaps the biggest concern of the night was how exactly these girls were getting back to campus. We spotted the group clearly intoxicated, stumbling into the subway at Center City late at night.

"We don't get drunk...we get more fun. We get more fun," said another Villanova student in the group.

"One of the areas I'm most concerned with is sexual assault or date rape," said Saint Joseph's University Professor George Dowdall.

Dowdall is a nationally known expert on college binge drinking. He says one in twenty female students is sexually assaulted each year. And 70% of those incidents are alcohol related.

Action News paid another visit to El Azteca. We tried to show one of the managers some pictures of the girls drinking in excess at the restaurant the week before.

"Do you have underage drinking here?" asked Action News' Erin O'Hearn. "Do you check I,D.s?" O"Hearn asked again.

"Get out of here or I'm going to call police," said the restaurant manager.

We also asked them about their reported policy that fines dinner groups $50 if someone gets sick in the restaurant. The same policy also asks one person to pledge everyone in the group is over 21 years old.

"I think it should be clear that letting students or underage kids use alcohol without clarifying their age is a big mistake," Dowdall added.

In Pennsylvania, allowing a minor to possess alcohol on premises is against the law. But according to some students, El Azteca may not be the only BYOB accused of exercising leniency when it comes to underage drinking.

"Do you ever see anyone there ID'ing the people that are drinking?" asked O'Hearn. "No, but I think that's the point of BYO's. That's why everyone goes," added Astrachan.

We should mention those girls from Villanova University did get home safely. Action News asked the owner of El Azteca about their ID'ing policy. At first, she agreed to meet with us in person but then cancelled after speaking to her attorney. We tried to ask her questions about what we uncovered during phone conversation, but she hung up.

For more information:

Villanova University's Alcohol Education Initiatives
AlcoholEdu for College
Students Against Drunk Driving
Risks of Binge Drinking

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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