Key points
- A recent report released by Arizona's liquor license department recommends the closure of Tempe Tavern.
- The report discusses two major law enforcement raids conducted at Tempe Tavern last year, and alleges a link between the bar and a fatal crash in September 2025.
- Prior to the publication of the report, Tempe Tavern filed a lawsuit against the city of Tempe and multiple individuals, including Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control members.
An Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control investigative report recommended the permanent revocation of the operating license of Tempe Tavern, a local bar and restaurant near the ASU Tempe campus.
The report documented several years worth of investigations into Tempe Tavern, including findings of over-service and the presence of underage individuals, as well as a "direct link" between the bar and a fatal hit-and-run. The DLLC concluded that the bar was a "threat to public welfare."
"DLLC cannot just shut a business down," Timothy La Sota, an attorney for the owners of Tempe Tavern, said in a statement regarding the report. "There is a process that must be followed if the DLLC seeks revocation of a liquor permit. We will vigorously fight any such efforts."
Tempe Tavern's liquor license was listed as active on AZ DLLC's website as of March 13. The director of the department "may suspend, revoke or refuse to renew" a license following notice and a hearing, according to state liquor law. Decisions made by the director may be appealed to the State Liquor Board.
The report was released to The State Press and other media outlets two weeks after a lawsuit filed by La Sota on behalf of Tempe Tavern against the city of Tempe and several individuals, including AZ DLLC officials.
That lawsuit claims serious financial losses stemming from alleged targeted underage drinking raids made by the Tempe Police Department, and from alleged false public statements released by the city.
However, the DLLC's report on Tempe Tavern, published after the lawsuit, documents a series of incidents in the bar which it says represented a "persistent, pervasive, and ultimately lethal pattern of statutory non-compliance."
"Systemic Underage Presence"
A key part of the conclusion reached by the DLLC, according to their report, was the repeated presence of underage patrons in Tempe Tavern.
"In 2025 alone, law enforcement conducted two major raids resulting in a staggering 422 total underage arrests," the report said. "The April raid yielded 173 arrests, while the November operation resulted in 249 arrests—marking the largest single-night enforcement action in DLLC history."
READ MORE: BREAKING: Police arrest 249 individuals in underage drinking operation at Tempe Tavern
Witness testimony from ASU students was also included in the report, in which students noted Tempe Tavern's reputation as the "Freshman bar" — or a bar where underage individuals could easily get in. Other witnesses reported that security staff were also involved in the underage drinking issue by engaging in a "pay-to-enter" system and accepting bribes.
The large numbers of underage individuals present at Tempe Tavern contributed to further citations made by the DLLC for over-occupancy within the bar and "over-service" of alcohol to patrons, according to the report.
"Direct Link to Fatality"
In addition to the reported underage drinking violations, the DLLC alleged a direct link between those violations at Tempe Tavern and a fatal hit-and-run in which the driver was an ASU student, which took place on Sept. 14, 2025.
READ MORE: Tempe PD says underage student was at Tempe Tavern before fatal September crash
"Forensic evidence and digital timelines confirm that the 19-year-old driver involved in the fatal hit-and-run ... was illegally served inside Tempe Tavern for over two hours immediately preceding the collision," the report stated.
The report included texts recovered from the driver's phone indicating she would be going to Tempe Tavern that night, and Apple Pay purchases from Tempe Tavern on Sept. 14.
This evidence was used to link Tempe Tavern's underage service of alcohol to the driver and her later involvement in the crash, serving as the basis for the report's conclusion that Tempe Tavern represented a "direct threat to public safety" through its operation.
Tempe Tavern's lawsuit
Despite being filed before the release of the DLLC report, Tempe Tavern's lawsuit addresses many of the incidents laid out in the report but alleges selective enforcement and defamation.
"The establishment was subjected to multiple large-scale inspections and enforcement operations over the past two years involving numerous officers and investigators," La Sota said in a statement. "Despite the scale of these operations, the inspections did not result in any sustained liquor or fire code violations against the establishment."
According to the lawsuit, the two raids carried out by Tempe PD in April and November 2025 did not result in sustained liquor-related citations against Tempe Tavern itself.
Nevertheless, the suit alleges that this series of raids brought "significant media attention" and "public perception of wrongdoing" to the bar, prompting some of the financial harms.
Members of the Arizona DLLC, who were named as defendants, declined to comment and instead referred to the investigative report.
"The City forcefully rejects this claim as absurd," the city of Tempe said in a press statement about the lawsuit. "The City of Tempe and the Tempe Police Department will continue to stand up for the safety of our community and the young people who live and go to school here."
The suit also addressed the fatal hit-and-run from September 2025. According to the lawsuit, in multiple media posts, the city of Tempe said the 19-year-old driver involved in the crash was at Tempe Tavern before the collision and attempted to link the bar to the tragedy.
The lawsuit did agree that the driver was at Tempe Tavern that night, but said on the night of the accident, the driver presented a seemingly "genuine identification that listed her age as 22 at the time." The suit said the identification was properly verified by staff, and the driver then walked home from the bar that night.
"Tempe P.D.'s official accident report states that alcohol was not a factor in the collision ... (the driver) was never charged with DUI, and walked home to her residence before subsequently getting in her car," La Sota said in a statement Wednesday. "Other than in the minds of those who desire to smear Tempe Tavern, there is no 'connection.'"
Because of the circumstances, the lawsuit said the publications by the city of Tempe and Tempe PD were "defamatory" by falsely implicating the business in the fatal crash.
According to the suit, the culmination of the alleged selective enforcement and defamation from Tempe PD and the city of Tempe was serious financial harm. The suit said gross sales for Tempe Tavern were approximately 10% of what they were before the raids in 2025.
According to La Sota, the city will be able to review the claims in the lawsuit before litigation may proceed, as per Arizona law.
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Senna James and Sophia Braccio.
Reach the reporter at sluba@asu.edu and follow @samluba6 on X.
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Sam Luba is a Senior Reporter with the State Press, focusing on longer form news stories and breaking news coverage. He is a Sophomore studying political science and justice studies, and is a competitor with Sun Devil Mock Trial. He was the Editor-in-Chief of his high school news magazine. He is in his 3rd Semester with the State Press, working previously as a Part-Time Political Reporter.
