Mi Cabana no more: Charlotte bar loses ABC permits after assaults, homicide
A local bar lost its alcohol permits after a string of violence and a killing this year, according to the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
An order of summary suspension from that commission says Mi Cabana’s owner admitted to selling alcohol after 2 a.m., which is against the law, and knowing that she was breaking that law.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have gone to the bar, located at 200 Eastway Drive, 28 times since July 22, 2023, according to that record. A homicide, three robberies, three aggravated assaults, five assaults and two weapon law violations were recorded there in that stretch, it says.
The record adds that police also have been affected. They cannot respond to calls there without back-up, it says, and CMPD’s ABC detectives are not allowed to conduct inspections there by themselves.
“The permittee’s operation of Mi Cabana has been, and continues to be, a strain on local law enforcement resources, as well as those of first responders and other regulatory authorities,” the record said.
Calls to the business went unanswered Monday.
Mi Cabana cannot sell alcohol indefinitely, though its owner could appeal, ABC spokesperson Jeff Strickland said.
Homicide earlier this year
Recordings showed patrons buying drinks as late as 3:54 a.m. and 4:02 a.m “on or about” April 13, the record says. State law says alcohol sales must end at 2 a.m., and customers must finish their drinks by 2:30 a.m.
Around 5 a.m., violence broke out and someone got shot, according to the record. It says that bar owner Kim To “got everyone to leave the business, turned off the lights, and walked past the victim, who was laying on the ground by the entrance, gasping for breath.”
She has admitted to police that she sold alcohol after 2 a.m. to make more money before, according to the record. And she took some responsibility for the homicide since she sold alcohol illegally then, it says.
When police again found alcohol there after hours in July, To shared that “Mi Cabana had been selling and serving alcoholic beverages to patrons after 2:00 AM, every day the business was open since the April 12, 2025, homicide,” according to the record.
She remembered her past conversations with police, it says.
Online court records say she has been charged with crimes that include failure to superintend and selling alcohol after legal hours.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.