Dancing is permitted: Victory for Shuswap food truck hit with $11,000 liquor fine

Sharon Toews’ food truck had prepared 600 tacos in readiness for what would be one of the busiest nights of the summer.

The Scotch Creek business owner had lined up U.S. musician Geordie Kieffer to play and sold 300 tickets. It was all hands on deck as kitchen staff prepped food and stocked the bar, while tents, tables, chairs and a stage were all arranged at her outdoor restaurant.

The family-friendly event was a huge success. The musician was a hit, the food went down well, people danced and children played.

However, two BC liquor inspectors who visited late that night saw it differently, saying the evening breached the limitations of her liquor licence.

The liquor inspectors argued that the entertainment wasn’t family-friendly, there were people wearing bikinis, and it looked more like a nightclub.

“I’m not… (a) no shoes, no shirt, no service sort of restaurant, we’re a summer vibe,” Toews told iNFOnews.ca.

Toews ended up in front of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, facing an $11,000 fine.

But in a move not often seen, the Shuswap food truck owner challenged the fine and won.

“I was so fed up and frustrated,” Toews said. “I’m doing everything I can to be a responsible business owner…. I broke no rules.”

In a 33-page BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch decision, the adjudicator ruled that Toews had abided by all the regulations and that the evening fit within the restraints of her liquor license.

“Dancing in the establishment is permitted,” adjudicator Nerys Poole said in the decision. “I find that the performance and the dancing with DJ music after the performance ended did not distract from the primary purpose of the service of food.”

The liquor inspectors admitted that they turned up after the musician had finished playing and didn’t actually see him. They also admitted that most women were dressed in tank tops and shorts. The liquor inspectors said they saw no one intoxicated.

Evidence submitted by Toews showed that food was consistently served all night, and there were enough chairs for all the guests.

In an unusual move, the adjudicator was critical of the liquor inspector.

“Generally, when patrons are dancing, they will not be eating,” Poole said in the decision.

For Toews, it was a huge relief – an $11,000 fine would have been the end of her business.

Toews launched the Be TEAsed Food Truck in 2015 and runs the business through the summer from her Scotch Creek property. It was low-key serving tacos, and Corona’s and margaritas, but in 2023 she stepped up her game and expanded.

“I’m a very unique restaurant,” she said. 

Along with the food truck, there is a huge tent with an eclectic range of seating, picnic tables and a small stage. There are lawn games for the kids, and people get a choice of waitress service or heading to the bar.

“You can come to my place and you can kick your shoes off and you can ground yourself in the grass and have a picnic,” Toews said.

The food service industry is notoriously difficult and being an outdoor restaurant, the weather can make or break a successful day, coupled with wildfire season on top of that.

Archaic liquor licensing rules just add to it.

Until this year, Toews had a food primary licence and was allowed to have entertainment. 

However, patrons weren’t allowed to dance or “participate.”

While it might seem odd not to let restaurant goers get up and boogie, for that she needed another licence.

She applied but had to wait two years. In the meantime, Toews put up signs saying no dancing.

In March 2025, she was fined $7,000 after liquor inspectors found that an evening when an AC/DC cover band played crossed the line from a focus on food to a focus on serving alcohol. The food wasn’t “adequate,” and the kitchen closed, but the bar didn’t.

The community rallied and raised $8,000 to pay the fine.

“I was bawling my eyes out,” Toews says of the community support.

On another night, she was fined $1,000 for having a game of limbo. 

“I was emotionally depleted, I didn’t fight it,” she said.

She upped her game, increased the menu items and kept the food truck open until midnight.

Toews jokes that she has the Food Primary licensing handbook memorized and armed with a license that allowed dancing, last July she put on the Geordie Kieffer show, which the liquor inspectors turned up at.

She said the whole thing was emotionally draining.

“It’s been a very stressful three years… (there were) so many times where I wanted just to sell it all and walk away,” she said.

The recently published decision gives an insight into the hoops those working in the food and restaurant industry have to jump through just to stay in business.

The decision says there have been 12 complaints made against the food truck, all of which were found to have no merit.

Toews said one neighbour has made a significant number of unfounded complaints.

Adding to that is the liquor inspector’s attitudes. In arguing that Geordie Kieffer wasn’t family entertainment, one liquor inspector said he wouldn’t take his kids to it, even though he didn’t see the performance and had only seen him online.

The liquor inspectors also said there weren’t enough seats for the patrons, which was proven to be incorrect. They questioned the food trucks’ financial records, which they read incorrectly.

Another complaint was that there were more drinks on offer than food items, which isn’t part of the licence and standard practice for any restaurant.

BC Restaurant and Food Services Association president Ian Tostenson said the liquor inspectors needed to use some common sense.

“It’s like almost harassment what they put those guys through,” Tostenson told iNFOnews.ca. “They weren’t doing anything illegal, they were attempting to run a business.

“If an entrepreneur wants to follow the rules and then take a shot at putting a food truck somewhere out in the middle of a field, then so be it.”

Tostenson also questions the costs involved.

Toews spent two days defending herself at the hearing, which called nine witnesses.

Liquor inspectors suggested to Toews to change her licence to a liquor primary, but that’s not what she wants to be.

“That’s not the vibe I’m going for,” she said. “I do this for the community.”

The family-friendly Be Teased Food Truck is scheduled to open again for this summer.

For more information, go here.