Plea entered on liquor violation, Clinton’s Rabbit Hole bar still closed
The Rabbit Hole bar on Market Street in downtown Clinton remains closed since a raid by state ABC agents on Oct. 18 amid allegations that the bar did not have a state liquor license. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Sheri Lynn Younkin, who also owns E. Claire’s Coffee House next door in the same building, was charged by Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents in October with unlawful sale and “storage of liquor for sale, untaxed,” and was cited into court originally on Oct. 27 in Oak Ridge.
The case was rescheduled for March.
ABC agents from Knoxville raided the bar at 364 Market St. on Monday, Oct. 18, with a search warrant in hand, according to information provided to The Courier News under an Open Records Act request.
The citation alleged that “on 10-18-21, the TNABC conducted a search warrant on The Rabbit Hole Bar & Bistro at 364 Market Street, Clinton, TN 37716, Anderson County. During the search, Alcoholic Beverages were found on the premises. The Rabbit Hole Bar & Bistro is owned/operated by the above-named subject [Sheri Lynn Younkin]. This establishment does not have a license with the TN Alcoholic Beverage Commission.”
Younkin opened the coffee house in March 2019, and then opened the Rabbit Hole bar in early September 2021. She said just after The Rabbit Hole opened that she wanted it to bring a new “gathering place” to downtown Clinton.
Younkin previously operated an event venue in the same space, called Elizabeth Claire’s Event Center, for about 12 years.
Details of Younkin’s sentence on the charges were not immediately available, but The Courier News did find that she is being required to perform 40 hours of community service, and will not be eligible for a state liquor license in the future.
Recent Facebook posts have also detailed complaints by former employees of Younkin’s E. Claire’s Coffee House and The Rabbit Hole that they were never paid for their work in the two businesses.
The Rabbit Hole did obtain a Clinton beer permit in the name of Carol Hanna on July 26, 2021, during a meeting of the City Council sitting as the Beer Board. Hanna had also been listed on an application as owner of the business, but she has said that Younkin was actually the owner, and had coerced her into applying for the beer permit in her own name.
There was also an application filed with the ABC Board for a liquor-by-the-drink license for The Rabbit Hole on Sept. 27, nearly a month after the bar opened. That application named Younkin and Hanna as managers of the bar. The business name was given as “Hanna’s Inc,” doing business as “The Rabbit Hole.”
Younkin could not be reached by The Courier News this week to comment on the March 10 court appearance or the future of The Rabbit Hole.