Name gets Mo. restaurant in trouble

SMITHVILLE, Mo. -- Jonathan Justus and his wife, Camille Eklof, opened Justus Drugstore: A Restaurant a year ago on land that's been in his family since 1842.

The high-end restaurant, whose name is a play on drugstores his grandfather and mother operated across the street, has since drawn rave reviews and is scheduled to be featured in Bon Apetit and Food & Wine magazines this summer.

It's the attention from the Missouri Board of Pharmacy that Justus could do without.

Earlier this month, Justus and his wife received a letter from the state agency that regulates pharmacies ordering them "to immediately cease and desist the unlawful use of the word drugstore" in the restaurant's name.

The letter cited a Missouri law dating back to 1951 designed to prevent unlicensed establishments from holding themselves out as pharmacies. The measure also bans the unauthorized use of "drug store," "apothecary" or similar words "unless the place of business is supervised by a licensed pharmacist."

The state inspector who showed up just before Memorial Day apparently wasn't mollified that "restaurant" was part of the name and is prominently featured on the restaurant's signs.

"I told her that the intent of the law is clear," Justus said, recalling his conversation with the inspector. "She jumped all over me and said that someone could come to us thinking they were getting medical advice from a professional."

Changing his restaurant's name isn't just an issue of dishonoring the family history. It would require him to get new signs, menus, uniforms and identity in the market.

"We spent an immense amount of energy branding ourselves," he said.

He also would have to reapply for retail and liquor licenses under a new name, endangering a high-end restaurant like his, which relies on alcohol sales to turn a profit.

"We'd go out of business," Justus said, thinking of the possibility of having to wait for a new liquor license.

The Board of Pharmacy said that while it's unlikely that someone would mistake a restaurant for the pharmacy, they have to follow the law's unambiguous wording.

"We don't go out and hunt these places, but our attorney looked at it and said that it violates the statute," said Debra C. Ringgenberg, executive director of the pharmacy board. "He advised us that we can't selectively enforce the statute. ... That's what gets us into trouble."

The board's attorney, Curtis Thompson, said someone needing an emergency prescription refill could see a sign for Justus Drugstore and be misled.

State Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville, disagrees with that assessment and is trying to change the pharmacy board's mind.

"I've seen the absolutely outrageous letter from the pharmacy board," Ridgeway said. "Apparently they're bored and don't have anything else to do."

She said she's asked the general counsel of the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee to see if the board's jurisdiction extends beyond pharmacies or people pretending to run a pharmacy.

Ridgeway, a regular customer at the restaurant, said she's also spoken to Gov. Matt Blunt, who she said called the board's action "stupid" and has indicated he'll intervene.

The board's letter to Justus and Eklof gives them only 30 days to make the changes. While it doesn't say what happens if the restaurant fails to do anything, Thompson said the board would likely seek a court injunction against the restaurant.

For Justus and Eklof, it's one more worry while running a restaurant in uncertain economic times. He said they've mortgaged their home, designed the interior themselves and pour most of their waking hours in its operation.

"This isn't a regular restaurant," he said. "We are very good at what we do, and we've worked very hard at it."