OCRegister.com reports, “Pizzeria Mozza, a new Italian restaurant owned by famous chef Mario Batali, won unanimous Planning Commission approval Thursday to serve liquor as well as beer and wine. The restaurant, 800 W. Coast Highway, had been approved for a full bar license by the city’s zoning administrator, but the permit was appealed by Planning Commissioner Robert Hawkins.”

Under the new proposed permit, the restaurant offered to close at 11 p.m., an hour earlier than before. ‘An 11 o’clock closing was in line with the neighborhood,’ said Brett Engsorom, the restaurant’s attorney. ‘We are not a bar, we are a full-service restaurant.’ Engsorom also said that the restaurant has not had any prior violations with the Alcohol and Beverage Control nor the Newport Beach Police Department.”