Riverhead police charge woman after restaurant found without liquor license

Riverhead police charged a Southampton woman after a Saturday night inspection found Main Street Restaurant and Bar at 300 East Main Street operating without a liquor license and in violation of town and fire codes.

Police said the Riverhead Police Department’s COPE Unit and Patrol Division worked with Riverhead code enforcement officials and the Riverhead Fire Marshal’s Office during the investigation, which began at about 9:45 p.m. Investigators said they found the restaurant did not have a license to sell alcohol and identified numerous town code and fire code violations.

The business owner, Rajkumarie Shivmangal, 43, was charged with false personation and sale of alcohol without a license, both misdemeanors. Police said she was processed at Riverhead Police headquarters and released on a desk appearance ticket.

The case goes beyond a simple licensing dispute. In a town where restaurants compete for seasonal traffic and repeat customers, operating outside liquor rules can put compliant businesses at a disadvantage and leave patrons assuming a place is properly authorized when it may not be. Town and fire code violations also raise the stakes for customers and neighboring businesses, because they can point to broader safety and occupancy concerns rather than a single paperwork problem.

The state liquor authority database listed an active on-premises liquor license at 300 East Main Street issued to Barrilla Culinary Concepts dba Insatiable Eats, with an expiration date of May 31, and no pending license application at the address. That record makes the Riverhead inspection more complicated than a routine administrative check and suggests regulators will be looking closely at how the property was being operated.

The address itself has a long restaurant history that helps explain why it can draw attention from regulators. The former bank building was renovated for restaurant use and later housed The Riverhead Project, Sonoma Grill, Michelangelo of Riverhead and Insatiable Eats Creative Kitchen. The property sold for $2.2 million in September 2021 and was marketed as a turnkey restaurant space with 4,000 square feet on the main floor and another 4,000 square feet in the basement.

Riverhead police have used targeted alcohol enforcement before. In September 2024, the department’s COPE unit and the Riverhead Community Awareness Program carried out liquor compliance checks at 12 retail vendors across town, resulting in three arrests. Saturday’s case adds another example of how licensing, code enforcement and public safety can overlap quickly in Riverhead when a business falls out of compliance.