The establishments were among nearly 60 of the 1,500 or so liquor licensees on Oahu that had not picked up their liquor licenses by the end of the day Monday, an important deadline, and could not legally sell alcoholic beverages.

Another 50 or so bars, restaurants, retail stores, clubs and ships earlier had notified the Honolulu Liquor Commission that they would not be renewing.

The snag that is keeping some licensees closed is a state law that says no county liquor license can be renewed unless the owner can show the local liquor commission that the business owes no state or federal taxes.

Duc Nguyen, owner of Duc's, said the restaurant business isn't very profitable and it has been hard for him to come up with the cash to pay the state general excise tax he owes and some federal taxes.

"We're doing okay, just okay," he said, but not well enough to have much loose cash. Nguyen came up with a cashier's check for the state and said he expected to have another check for the Internal Revenue Service today, enabling him to pick up Duc's license.

He said he doesn't much like the idea of tying a restaurant's liquor license to its tax situation. "I think the two should be separate," he said.

At O'Toole's, owner Gary "Skip" Naftel said he opened for the tour group last night because he feels he has an obligation to take care of a business that regularly brings customers to the downtown area.

O'Toole's also couldn't pay its taxes on time to meet the end of June deadline and is looking for a way to get his license renewed, he said.

Also caught by the deadline was Hooters Restaurant at the Aloha Tower Marketplace, which just before lunch yesterday was unable to sell liquor while its manager scurried around paying the taxes and picking up the license.

Soon after, it was relicensed and back in the beverage business.

At Indigo, a Eurasian restaurant on Nuuanu Avenue, it was liquor business as usual, despite not having a license. A manager expressed surprise that the license had not been obtained.

The Plaza Mini Mart, a retail convenience shop in the Royal Capital Plaza condominium in Kakaako, was not selling liquor because it too had not yet renewed its license.

Still, a large majority of licensees did clear their taxes and renewed on time, said John Rybczyk, liquor commission administrator. Compliance this year has been good, he said.

That was true statewide. Frank Silva, liquor administrator for the County of Maui, said that at the beginning of last week nearly half the county's licensees had not been renewed.

Except for 17 that had closed for various reasons, all 402 licensees that had expected to renew had done so by the deadline, Silva said.

One was the historic Pau Hana Inn on Molokai, which earlier had indicated it might not make it but in the end found money from an investor to pay the taxes so it could stay open.

On the Big Island, 328 licensees had renewed by the end of the deadline Monday and 10 had not. Yesterday only two that had been expected to renew had not done so, the county liquor department said. Kauai figures were not immediately available.