Cheng-Du warned for alcohol sales; Call police if ID in doubt, police chief tells owner.

Byline: Priyanka Dayal

WESTBORO - The Board of Selectmen this week issued a warning to Cheng-Du Restaurant for serving alcohol to teenagers.

According to police Chief Alan R. Gordon, a Westboro High School teacher told Officer Charles "Chip" Dapolite, the school liaison officer, that she was at the Chinese restaurant Feb. 16 when she saw two male high school students drinking or holding beer. The teacher recognized the students, Chief Gordon said at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

Cheng-Du owner Kuorung Tang said the two young men presented IDs - which likely were fakes - before they were served, but a third young male did not have an ID.

"If a person is underage, we don't serve them," Mr. Tang said. "Unfortunately, this happened ... We took immediate action when this happened."

Mr. Tang said that from now on, Cheng-Du will not serve alcohol to a table unless everyone at that table has an ID that shows they are 21 or older. "We take this very, very seriously," he said.

Chief Gordon said Mr. Tang or his servers should have called police if they were unsure about the authenticity of a customer's ID. Police would have come to the restaurant immediately to assist, he said.

Cheng-Du, at 157 Turnpike Road, has been operating for 27 years without a liquor violation.

"We have done a number of stings before, and this is the first violation for Cheng-Du," Chief Gordon said. "They took responsibility for their actions."

Selectmen voted unanimously to issue a warning to the restaurant, instead of setting penalties for the violation.

NAME: WESTBORO SELECTMEN