SLOPPY JOE’S, FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW (Left) Owner Joe Melvin; (above) Sloppy Joe’s garage bar.
you know John?” and “How did you
find this?” are easy icebreakers and
aren’t words usually spoken to a ran-
dom person at a public bar.
It’s also a great place for group
entertainment. The SOMa Tech
Collective, which Garbarino cre-
ated to bring industry workers in the
area together, has frequent mixers at
the bar, making for a cost-effective
(no restaurant rental necessary) and
intriguing (who doesn’t want to see
someone’s garage bar?) way to get
tech professionals together.
“People were getting jobs from my
garage,” Garbarino says.
And about once every month
or two, the Maplewood Chamber
of Commerce, local charities and
schools have hosted events with 20 to
100 people in the space (and in front
of the garage).
Since Garbarino does not sell any
alcohol and the Chamber provides its
own to its members, Garbarino says
that from a liability standpoint, host-
ing the events is “no different from
any other homeowner hosting a local
event, fundraiser, etc. for friends and
neighbors.”
“For my tech events [for] my
neighbors, if people ask for a beer, I
will serve them one [if they are over
21], but I never charge because it’s
not a business,” Garbarino adds.
Despite the number of garage
bars popping up in the area and the
publicity that now surrounds them,
Maplewood Police Detective Sergeant
Michael Palmerezzi says that no com-
plaints from neighbors or other citi-
zens concerning the bars have been
reported, at least over the past few
months, nor has he heard any nega-
tive reports about them.
At the end of the day, a garage is
still a garage. “You have to be smart
about it with our taxes going up in
our town,” says Garbarino. “Some
people have insulated theirs and got-
ten rid of the garage doors, and if you
do that, you run the risk of having
your taxes increased.” ■
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