Over the weekend, Temple Grill was cited by the Department of Consumer Protection for selling alcohol to minors.

As part of the joint DCP-New Haven Police Department operation, two minors volunteered to pose as customers at nine food and drink establishments in the area. The volunteers were instructed to order alcoholic drinks at each bar and, if prompted, to show identification that listed their true ages. Bars that sold drinks to the volunteers anyway will have the chance to address the charges at administrative hearings before the state’s Liquor Control Commission.

Of the nine, only Temple Grill and Delaney’s Taproom and Restaurant on Whalley Avenue failed the liquor compliance checks.

Similar operations have become more common in New Haven due to the city’s increasing crackdown on illegal alcohol consumption, causing some bars around campus to increase their security and regulation. Viva Zapata, a Mexican restaurant on Park St., is now requiring customers to show ID’s at the door more frequently, occasionally a second form for those who show non-Connecticut ID. Saybrook College’s tradition of “Viva’s Night” was recently cancelled because the venue refused to allow customers under the age of 21 into the bar area.

Both Temple Grill’s manager and a Viva Zapata’s employee declined to comment on the situation.