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After a string of arrests and citations for selling alcohol to minors, Marco restaurants and businesses are working with their employees to cut off underage drinking.

On Feb. 15 a sting operation arrested a server at Nacho Mama’s Restaurant in Marco Island for serving to an underage patron. Police also caught a clerk at Walgreens Liquor Store and Exxon Food Mart selling to a minor.

The sting operation was part of an effort by the Marco Island Police Department along with the Florida Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco to monitor the compliance of local businesses with underage drinking laws.

“We do it every year several times, at different points of the year,” said Marco Island Police Chief Roger Reinke. “We want to check compliance, make sure everybody’s compliant with the law.”

Police found that some businesses were not strict enough when it came underage drinkers.

“To my recollection every time we’ve done something like this, we’ve found someone who was breaking the law,” said Chief Reinke.

But Marco business owners are trying to learn from the incidents and ensure that employees are checking driver’s licenses.

Nacho Mama’s Restaurant manager Nancy Phillips acknowledged that employees must be diligent about carding their patrons.

The violation on Feb. 15 was a harsh reminder that there is no room for mistakes.

Phillips said the waitress who served the undercover minor thought he looked old enough, but the server was arrested and will have to appear in court.

“It was a mistake on her part,” said Phillips.

But the restaurant is moving forward to make sure such an incident doesn’t happen again.

“We had a meeting the week after it happened,” said Phillips. “Basically anyone under the age of the 35 gets [carded].”

The restaurants that have not been caught serving to minors are working to keep it that way.

Brien Spina, owner of Captain Brien’s Seafood & Raw Bar, said his restaurant is prepared to deal with minors trying to order alcohol.

“We have a very strict policy here,” said Spina. “We card everybody.”

Popular restaurants with a younger crowd like Nacho Mama’s and Captain Brien’s have to be especially careful with underage drinking during their busiest times.

“I bet you every night somebody [underage] tries to order alcohol,” said Spina.

For a restaurant, getting cited for serving alcohol to minors can be a costly offense. Three citations can cost a restaurant its liquor license – which could in turn cost the owners and employees their livelihood.

Said Spina, “I’d rather stop one person from drinking in my restaurant – whether they are of age or underage, than lose my liquor license and stop everyone from drinking in my restaurant.”

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Staff writer Leslie Williams contributed to this report.