Three business’ liquor licenses were reclassified on June 28 during the village council meeting, as the village works to clean up existing code and rules related to liquor operations in town.
Lantern Haus’ license was changed from an A to an A1. ‘A’ license holders must derive at least half of their revenue from the sale of food, which is not the case at Lantern Haus.
McGaffers previously held an A1 license, but because they estimate at least 50 percent of their revenue comes from the sale of food, which their accountant has or will confirm with the village, they were switched to an A license instead.
Exit Strategy, a brewery that produces beer on location, was given an A7 (beer pub) license rather than both an A and A7 license as they had previously.
The benefit of the A license right now is that those license holders are allowed to keep their bars open later, till 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends, while those with A1 licenses are forced to close at midnight every night after a July 2 ordinance allowed the bars to stay open just one hour longer, from the previous 11 p.m. closing time, which included weekends.
There are currently 15 A license holders: Caffe De Luca, Golden Steer, Goldyburger’s, Jimmy’s Place, Fat Duck, Lathrop House Café, Mexican Republic Kitchen & Cantina, Old School Tavern & Grill, Panda Café, Tacabron, Taco Tu Restaurant & Bar, Scratch Kitchen, Shanahan’s, O’Sullivan’s and McGaffer’s.
There are currently 14 A1 license holders: Angelo O’Leary’s, Blueberry Hill, Carole’s Next Best Thing, Circle Bowling Lanes, Circle Inn, Doc Ryan’s, Duffy’s Tavern, Forest Park Tap Room, Mugsy’s, Pioneer Tap, Shortstop Lounge, Slainte Irish Pub, The Beacon and The Lantern House.
A2 licenses are issued to restaurants that sell alcohol “for consumption with, and as part of, the meals sold to them by such business.” These restaurants are Small Batch Barbecue, Charlie’s Restaurant, Chirrion Mexican Restaurant, Gaetano’s and Kribi Coffee.
A3 licenses allow only the sales of beer and wine within a restaurant and include Bua & Hana, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, and The Junction Diner.
A7 licenses are for brew pubs, and only Exit Strategy has this particular license.
A8 are for event spaces, the sole holder of one of these being Urban Pioneer Group.
B1 licenses are for the sale of alcohol as a packaged product not for consumption on the premises where sold. These have been issued to USA Beverage, Suburban Liquors, Cardinal Wine and Spirits, CVS Pharmacy, Famous Liquors, Forest Park Liquors, and Living Fresh Market.
Class C is BYOB. Licensees are Starship Restaurant & Catering and Yum Thai Restaurant.
Class O liquor licenses are issued to off-site caterers, allowing them to bring alcohol as part of food service. Starship Catering has an O license.
In related news, at the June 28 village council meeting, an ordinance was passed that automatically closes out a liquor license if the related business shuts; prior to this code amendment, the license would sit open until a future council meeting during which the number of licenses in that category would be reduced. That left an open license for the liquor commissioner to issue without council approval. Now, no new liquor licenses can be created and thus issued without a majority vote of the mayor and commissioners.
