Each time Senate President-elect Michael Waddoups catches a bite at the Chili's restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City, he doesn't like what he sees.

There, right behind the hostess stand, are dozens of liquor bottles stacked in an alcove where a bartender mixes drinks -- in full view of diners. Worse, a minor could belly up to the L-shaped counter, reach over an 18-inch wooden barrier and snatch an alcoholic beverage placed there for servers picking up drinks for diners.

On Wednesday, Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, summoned state liquor control officials to the Administrative Rules Review Committee at the state Capitol. He wanted to know why restaurants are allowed to mix alcoholic drinks "in a bar setting."

"I am totally convinced that any lay citizen would go in and say, 'This is a bar,' " Waddoups said of Chili's, at 668 E. 400 South. "That's a violation of the Utah Alcohol Control Act."

Waddoups directed liquor-control officials to determine if rules can be tightened, including retrofitting restaurants to separate diners from areas where alcohol is prepared or stored. He also said he would consider restricting minors from bar areas at restaurants.

Retrofitting eateries to hide the preparation and storage of alcohol would be "rigorously opposed" by the Utah Restaurant Association, said the group's CEO Melva Sine. Such regulations would require new plumbing, electrical, flooring and other remodeling, costing an estimated $100,000 per restaurant.

"The notion that young people may be tempted to drink alcohol simply because they have been exposed to a bottle of wine or liquor in a restaurant is ludicrous," she said. "In most instances, patrons who feel their child should not be looking at liquor can ask to be seated away from the bar area."

Earl Dorius, who supervises compliance for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said he was surprised that Chili's had a wooden barrier at its eight-seat lunch counter. Many other restaurants have installed glass partitions, dubbed a Zion's Curtain, to separate diners from the preparation of liquor.

Under current regulations, bartenders may not hand drinks directly to diners. Servers walk around the counter, pick up the drink and deliver the alcoholic beverage to customers seated at the counter. Diners in turn, must show an intent to order a meal with their alcoholic beverage. But if they change their mind after a drink and leave before eating, servers aren't expected to catch the offending customer "with a block tackle," said Dorius.

All alcohol was hidden from public view in Utah restaurants until 2001, when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a state ban against liquor advertising and displays. Dorius predicted another court challenge if the state imposes similar restrictions.

Dorius agreed with Waddoups that the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition gives states the right to regulate alcohol. But Dorius said "there'll be a head-on collision" between the 21st Amendment and 1st Amendment free speech rights if the state forces restaurants to erect barriers blocking the view of alcohol or moving bartenders to a back room.