All Shook Down and NBC Bay Area brought some welcome news yesterday in the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s (ABC) outrageous crackdown on all ages SF venues, a conflict that has enveloped some of the City’s best places to see shows. On Monday, an administrative law judge recommended that case against the Great American Music Hall be dropped due to because “the regulation relied upon by the ABC was ambiguous.” Following that decision, the ABC announced that it was dropping the charges against Great American.

As All Shook Down notes:

The ruling falls in line with public opinion that the state agency’s regulations box night clubs into a corner by forcing them to apply for liquor licenses as restaurants when they’re in fact a completely different business, among other issues.

But what about the cases against Slim’s, Bottom of the Hill and the rest? According to NBC Bay Area: “ABC officials said the decision does not affect any other pending cases and it plans to have the regulation clarified by the State Office of Administrative Law.”

Clearly this isn’t over, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.