Fontana Grill Gets Liquor License

Finally, one of my favorite restaurants on the northside of Chicago will get its liquor license. Fontana Grill & Wine Bar has been BYOB since it opened last autumn. I had dinner in the cozy and intimate restaurant on Friday, Feb. 13, and owner Nino Divanovic pulled me aside tonight and said the city told him earlier this week that his liquor license has been approved. Nino said they hope to start selling wine, beer and liquors "next weekend," and he plans to host wine tastings frequently. My friend had the NY strip and I had the rack of lamb (Nino's personal favorite). Both were cooked to perfection, and the excellent potatoes au gratin and grilled asparagus spears rounded out both plates nicely. Sadly, we forgot to bring a bottle of wine; we forgot that Fontana Grill was still a bring-your-own establishment. Only for another week, thank goodness, and the next time I go I'll be able to order an adult beverage from Fontana's own stock. Tip: Some of the best calamari I've ever had, and when the weather gets warm they have a beautiful cobblestone outdoor patio. Great stone-fired thin crust pizzas, too, and if you just want something simple, Fontana's burgers are excellent. 1329 W Wilson Ave (between Beacon Street and Malden Street, between N. Broadway and N. Clark) Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 561-0400 http://www.fontanagrill.com/ For more information, see a review at Metromix. CNB RSS Feed

Uptown 7-Eleven Runaround

CHICAGO - Dec. 3, 2008 - Uh oh. The new 7-Eleven store across from Truman College in the Uptown neighborhood is about to open, and they want to sell booze. Yes, booze, that which makes all the drunks in that neighborhood, well, drunk. Uptown already has more than its fair share of drunks staggering around, and the strip that the new 7-Eleven will be in is particularly seedy. Another liquor retailer there? Not a good idea. "Uptown residents have until December 5th to call or mail feedback to the City about the proposed liquor license for the 7-11 at 1138 West Wilson Avenue," according to Uptown Update. Go read that, then come on back here for a few tips from The Bench on what to expect and what not to expect. You see, The Bench helped defeat a 7-Eleven liquor license request in Rogers Park in October, 2007. We have two videos and some reportage from that episode below. This time, in Uptown, it would seem that 7-Eleven learned from their Rogers Park defeat. For one thing, it seems that this time they waited until the last minute to file their request, and did it at a time when many people would be distracted by Thanksgiving holiday plans. Sneaky. Do not expect the 7-Eleven reps to cooperate. Rather, they will try to wow you with diversionary nonsense about the "freshness" of their food, the wonders of convenience shopping, and the altruistic virtues of higher revenues from booze making it possible for the store to have more employees on duty. That last point is a hoot: They paradoxically argued in Rogers Park last year that liquor sales revenue would allow the hiring of more employees, which would make the store safer. The paradox there is that if no liquor is there to lure the troublemakers in, there is no need for more employees "for security." Additionally, the added payroll would negate much of the added revenue. In other words, the 7-Eleven folks have a very weak argument in favor of liquor sales as regards community benefit. Flashback to October, 2007: Two videos of the community meeting on October 23, 2007. (Each is about 45 minutes; total is 90 minutes for both.) View Part One and View Part Two 7-11 Liquor License Battle Heats Up UPDATED: PETITION AGAINST 7-11 LIQUOR LICENSE Will 7-11 Endanger Children in Rogers Park?

Heartland Liquor License Modified (Why No Public Meeting???)

Item #2 in the June 25 email blast from Sandi Price, DevCorp North's managing director, is a notice that Heartland Cafe will again be serving liquor on its patio. They were fined $3,000 last fall for serving on the patio, which was not included in their license. But what's the deal? If Heartland Cafe is again serving on the patio, it means that they are (a) continuing to violate their liquor license, or (b) their liquor license was modified to include the patio. If it's (b), then we'd like to know why there was no public meeting to consider that liquor license modification! (If you gag a little bit after reading Katy Hogan's hyperbolic text, you're to be forgiven.) From: Sandi Price [mailto:sprice@devcorpnorth.org] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:16 AM To: sprice@devcorpnorth.org Subject: Rogers Park Happenings The HEARTLAND CAFE, at the corner of Lunt & Glenwood in the heart of Rogers Park, is ONCE AGAIN, as it had for many years, SERVING ALCOHOL along with its consistently "Good Wholesome Food for the Mind & Body", on their gorgeous, flowering Outdoor Patio space; an outdoor cafe without peer for its grace and beauty. Yours in serving the 'hood since 1976, Kathleen & Michael, Heartland Cafe Co- Founders, Owners and Neighbors 7000 N. Glenwood, Chicago 773 465 8005 www.heartlandcafe.com Sandi Price Managing Director DevCorp North (773) 508-5885 www.rogers-park.com (By the way, notice Katy's claim that Heartland Cafe's serves "consistently" good food. Really? The service is consistently slow, the kitchen help is consistently underpaid and not allowed to join a union, and a common complaint about the place is inconsistent quality of the food!)

Open-Air Drinking On Morse Avenue Continues

Alderman Joe Moore just doesn't get it. The pressure he's been putting on Soo Liquors at 1420 W. Morse Avenue in Rogers Park (between Glenwood and Greenview) is not working very well.

The Bench photographed the proof (no pun intended) of this failure yesterday. A couple of the local street "regulars," as the 24th District police call them, were hanging on the sidewalk in front of the troubled location in the middle of the afternoon. They were getting their drink on in full view of everybody. Finished with the Busch beer, the can was casually dropped into the gutter.

Look up Soo Liquors on Yelp.com and you'll find this darkly amusing description:

"Soo Liquors is the location of many gangbangers and hardcore drug dealers on Morse Avenue. It's very close to the Morse El Redline [sic] stop and CTA bus service. It's also locked up like a prison when it's closed. They killed all of the trees in front of thier [sic] storefront a few years back. When new trees and flowers were replanted, they were also quickly stomped down. Go to Soo Liquors if you are looking for the most violent way to purchase packaged goods."

That's a bit rough. Soo Liquors is not to blame for 40 years of paying single women to have babies. Soo Liquors is not responsible for paying welfare to slackers who would rather drink on the sidewalk than get a job. Soo Liquors is not to blame for the lowered sense of shame, pride and social responsibility. Soo Liquors is not to blame for the mentally ill people who cannot fend for themselves but are allowed to walk the mean streets alone. Soo Liquors is not responsible for the still brisk narcotics street trade in Rogers Park. It's not Soo Liquors.

No, Leftist government policies, programs and propaganda are largely to blame. Soo Liquors is as much a victim of this as anybody else is. Alderman Joe Moore is part of the Liberal Elite that has cultivated this Cretin Culture, and like his Fellow Travelers, Moore just doesn't get it.

Nice work, Mr. Moore. When will you and your elitist 49th Ward Democrat Party fuckups, and your stooges at DevCorp North, realize that the problem is not Soo Liquors but, rather, the gutter culture that crawls along Morse Avenue and decades of empowering that culture that your comrades are guilty of?

RELATED:
A Can of Colt 45 is a Can of Colt 45
Morse Avenue Update: Soo Liquors, Omelettes
Soo Liquors Best and Worst Customer

New Bar, Same Bad Location

New bar coming to bad location in Rogers Park soon.

Watch for it at 6962 N Glenwood Avenue, which is the former site of both Bar None (destroyed by fire last summer) and of the notorious DJ's Ranch. If you don't like the drinks you can score narcotics or weed on this stretch of N. Glenwood, between Morse to the south and Lunt to the north.

http://www.theglenwoodbar.com/Home.html

A Can of Colt 45 is a Can of Colt 45

Joe Moore and liquor stores just seem to go together. He takes their money for his campaign chest, then pretends that he's tough on them. What a lousy actor this Alderman Joe Moore is. In Rogers Park, Soo Liquors is infamous on troubled W. Morse Avenue for loitering scumbags. Recently, Alderman Moore "got tough" with the liquor store. But his tough act is the stuff of wimp legend, and it ain't flying in the 49th Ward. We've seen this bullshit before. From this week's News-Star: The storeowners are also required to attend monthly CAPS beat meetings, join the business and economic development corporation for Rogers Park DevCorp North, and buy an awning sign. The memorandum does not name a specific time period that Soo Liquors has to get the business under control. Last Thursday, News-Star visited Soo Liquors and purchased a 24-ounce can of Colt 45 malt liquor and a $2.99 bottle of cheap rum. When asked why the store was still selling malt liquor after the owners agreed not to, the store manager said that "Colt 45 was OK" because it had slightly less alcohol content than other brands. The store manager also said that the $2.99 price for a cheap half-pint did not apply because it came out to $3.51 with tax. FULL ARTICLE by Lorraine Swanson...

Support This Liquor License

Here's a liquor license we should not oppose, Rogers Park. It's for a nice restaurant just off of N. Sheridan Road on W. Pratt. It's on a quiet cul de sac, but the license should cause no problems for neighbors. Why not? Because people don't go to a fine Mediterranean restaurant, have a nice bottle of wine with their hummus, then stumble out to pee on the neighborhood lawns. Leave that to the drunks wobbling out of the Oasis bar, just around the corner, which stays open until 4:00 a.m. Support this liquor license. Or, at least, please don't oppose it. From Alderman Joe Moore, January 4: Dear Neighbor, I am writing to invite you to a community meeting on a proposal for an incidental liquor license for a new restaurant located at 1146 W. Pratt. The meeting will be held at 1146 W. Pratt on Monday, January 7th, at 7 p.m. The site is currently occupied by Cafe Suron. The owner of Cafe Suron is selling the restaurant to Aykut Sinanoglu, who plans to open a new restaurant called Tas, which will offer Mediterranean cuisine. The plans include an application for an incidental consumption on premises liquor license, which allows restaurants to serve liquor, I held a similar meeting in April 2005 to discuss Cafe Suron's request for the same type of liquor license, and it was well received. Mr. Sinanoglu currently manages six restaurants. I am interested in hearing your views on this application before I make my recommendation to the Mayor's License Commissioner. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please share your thoughts by replying to this e-mail or calling my office at 773-338-5796. Thanks for your input.

Video: 7-11 Meeting (Part Two)

Here Parts II, of the October 23, 2007 Rogers Park community meeting to decide the fate of the liquor license requesty for the 7-Eleven store at W. Pratt and N. Glenwood. (The entire video of Parts One and Two combined is about 90 minutes, which is why I posted this in two parts.) Part Two is below; Part One can be seen here.

Filthy Corner of Schakowsky, Fagus, Moore

These are public servants? How can they look at this crap every day and not take action?

NO! NO! NO!

Joceyln writes an excellent summary of the October 23, 2007 community meeting in which the 7-Eleven request for a liquor license was shouted down. RELATED: VIDEO: FULL 7-11 MEETING OF OCT. 23, 2007

Video: Defeating 7-11 Liquor License (Part One)

Many good people spoke against 7-Eleven's request for a liquor license at Pratt and Glenwood in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood in the October 23, 2007 community meeting. Here is the short video of it, showing one man speaking against the license request, a man who many are saying single handedly pursuaded Alderman Moore to deny 7-Eleven's request. Here is Part I (Part II can be seen here.) PART I:

Duke's Bar and "Packaged Liquor"

The recent community outcry against 7-Eleven's request to sell beer and wine was successful inasmuch as the request was turned down. But some confusion remains about "packaged liquor." A confused reader wrote a comment to a posting on The Bench recently, which had some incorrect information. Her supposition that Duke's Bar on N. Glenwood sells "packaged liquor" was incorrect. First, beer is alcholic but it is not "liquor." Duke's sells beer for carryout, but only beer and not after midnight. Duke's is legally able to sell until 2:00 a.m. but chooses not to. Duke's Bar is a good neighbor. It should be noted that Duke's is not open when young children are on their way to school, and does not have a busy parking lot. On a personal note, I am a frequent patron of Duke's and I have seen his bartenders refuse to sell beer after midnight on a number of occassions. Let's look at the first comment, then Neil Lifton's response. Does Dukes still sell packaged liquor? I believe they do. As for lottery, I wish they would have seperate locations for that business. I always get stuck behind a person who buys tickets, checks the results at the counter, buys more tickets, checks the results...ad infinitum, while there is a line of customers behind them who just want to buy there bottle of water/coke/slurpee and go. The commenter got two things wrong: First, the "packaged liquor" thing. Second, the 7-11 at Pratt and Glenwood has not sold lottery tickets for years. Neil Lifton, owner of Duke's Bar on N. Glenwood, responds: I noticed that someone...posted on your site that Duke's still sells packaged liquor for takeout. That, of course is not true. I stopped selling packaged liquor shortly after taking over the bar two years ago. Any way to correct this misrepresentation? I was pleased to see that the community came out in numbers to oppose the 7-11 license. Personally, I think it's one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. Thanks, Neil Lifton You're welcome, Neil.

7-11 Defeated by Overwhelming Opposition

Rogers Park, Chicago - Tuesday night's community meeting proved the power of the people as they overwhelmingly spoke out against 7-11's request to apply for a liquor license. An existing moratorium against liquor licenses would have to have been overturned by the City Council to allow the 7-11 store at W. Pratt and N. Glenwood sell booze. Representatives at the meeting told the crowd of approximately 70 neighbors that the license, were it granted, would have allowed the store to sell alcoholic beverages from 7:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m.

49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore turned down the request, to his credit. The alderman, however, had little choice. With bloggers and representatives of the press in attendance, Moore could not possibly have approved the request against such overwhelming public opposition in the full light of media view. There were approximately 30 people who spoke against the request, and only one person spoke in favor of it.

The Bench video taped the entire meeting. We hope to get it posted in the near future, but please bear with us - it is in high def and very long, so it will take a little time to put it in a presentable format. Below is the text of Alderman Moore's message:

Alderman Moore's Decision on 7-Eleven's Request to Lift Moratorium

Dear Neighbor,

As you know, I was asked by Mr. Hashim Sayed and the 7-Eleven corporation to lift the 49th Ward's moratorium on new packaged liquor licenses for their store at 1414 W. Pratt (at Glenwood). Lifting the moratorium would have enabled 7-Eleven to apply for a liquor license.

I hosted a community meeting on Tuesday, October 24th, to give Mr. Sayed and 7-Eleven an opportunity to present their proposal and solicit the opinions of community residents.

Nearly 100 community residents attended the meeting, and nearly every resident spoke out against the proposal. In light of the overwhelming community opposition, I have informed Mr. Syed and the 7-Eleven representatives that I will deny their request to lift the moratorium.

I would like to thank Mr. Sayed and 7-Eleven for their willingness to present their plans to the community. And I would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the meeting or send an e-mail expressing their opinion on this issue. By most accounts, Mr. Sayed runs a good, clean store, but the residents who live closest to the store agree that the community is not able to absorb another packaged liquor license.

I respect their opinion and will abide by their recommendation.

Sincerely,

Joe Moore

WILL 7-11 ENDANGER CHILDREN IN ROGERS PARK?

Find out at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23. The owner of the 7-11 franchise at Pratt and Glenwood in Chicago's Rogers Park will have the opportunity to defend his request for a license to sell beer and wine at his store. Neighbors will have the opportunity to voice their opposition. Will Alderman Moore be there? Dunno. I will be, and hope you will be too.

7:00 PM, Tuesday
The Lake Shore School
6759 N. Greenview (at W. Pratt)

Footnote: The flyer on the left is mine. I made - and taped up - over 100 of these on Sunday. I put up about 40 on Saturday, and to my amusement the 7-11 guys ripped them all down! My blitz on Sunday, however, overwhelmed them and as of this evening most were still up. The orange one of the right is Alderman Moore's flyer, also advertising the community meeting. (Say, is that legal?)

UPDATED: PETITION AGAINST 7-11 LIQUOR LICENSE

Dear Neighbor, Please copy this text and paste it into a Word document. Print out a few sheets for people to sign. Bring it to the meeting at the Lakeshore School at 6759 N. Greenview (at W. Pratt) on October 23, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. (See petition text below.) Send original petitions to Alderman Joe Moore and copies of petitions to 24th Police District Commander Rottner and Scott Bruner, Director, Department of Business Affairs and Licensing. Letters emails or phone calls to Commander Rottner wouldn't hurt either. (Contact info below.) Commander Rottner's role is only advisory, but the Dept. of Business Affairs does ask for input from the district police commander. Commander Rottner truly cares about what the community wants. Alderman Joe Moore 7356 N. Greenview Chicago, IL 60626 Phone: 773-338-5796 24th District Commander Bruce Rottner 6464 N. Clark St. • Chicago, IL 60660 Phone: (312) 744-5907 • Fax: (312) 744-6928 district24@chicagopolice.org Community Policing Phone: (312) 744-6321 Scott Bruner, Director Department of Business Affairs and Licensing 121 North La Salle St., Room 800 Chicago, IL 60602 (312) 74-GOBIZ (744-6249) http://www.cityofchicago.org/businessaffairs ----- THE PETITION: Copy and paste into Word. Print it. Circulate it. ----- "NO!" TO 7-11 LIQUOR LICENSE at PRATT & GLENWOOD! As a resident of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, I oppose the application for a liquor license by the 7-Eleven store at 1414 W. Pratt (at N. Glenwood). I feel that sales of alcoholic beverages at this store would make their busy parking lot more dangerous to children who pass through it on their way to and from school, the park, or friends' homes. It would expose children who shop at this 7-11 to a bad influence. Please do not allow the 7-11 at 1414 W. Pratt to have a liquor license.

Name (Print)		Name (Signature)		E-mail or Telephone

rogersparkbench@yahoo.com

7-11 Liquor License Battle Heats Up

GET THE PETITION! COPY IT, PRINT IT, CIRCULATE IT AMONG YOUR NEIGHBORS. For more info, see PETITION AGAINST 7-11 LIQUOR LICENSE

The 7-11 convenience store at N. Glenwood and W. Pratt in Rogers Park, Chicago wants to sell liquor. The Bench urges all neighbors to oppose their application. The store is just a few hundred feet from an elementary school and is situated between two of the most confusing intersections in Chicago. The Chicago City Council must pass an ordinance lifting the moratorium before franchise owner Mr. Sayed can apply for the license. Mr. Sayed's 7-Eleven store would be the only business affected by the lifting of the moratorium.

This particular 7-11 stopped selling Lottery tickets several years ago because it "caused too many problems" for the store. We wonder how naive the owner must be to think that selling booze will not cause problems. All one has to do is spend a few minutes observing Soo Liquors on Morse Avenue to see what kind of problems could soon visit 7-11 at Pratt and Glenwood. Isn't 7-11 obligated to have a public notice posted in their window? Well, they don't. Just pro-license propaganda (photo) at checkout.

There is a sick irony to the flyer that clerks have been ordered to hand out to customers at this 7-11. Click on the photo here to see a larger image of it. The flyer says that there will be a community meeting about the license just one short block away at Lakeshore School, at N. Greenview and W. Pratt. Children walk through the 7-11 parking lot on their way to and from the Lakeshore School, as well as to and from nearby Kilmer and Sullivan schools.

Do you really want those kids bumping into more drunks while they're trying to get to school? Do we really want liquor sales within a thousand feet of Lakeshore School? The Bench has documented on video the fact that very few sober drivers do not stop at the stop sign right in front of Lakeshore School. Add to that mix a bunch of people hurrying to get another hit of booze on their way home, or to or from a party.

The liquor license will bring in a whole new type of traffic, on foot and in cars. Suddenly, people jonesing for one more 40 ouncer or a six pack to cap off a night of drinking will be swerving into - and out of - the parking lot on busy Pratt Avenue. Come to the meeting, Neighbor, and speak against this outrage.

ALSO SEE: DANGEROUS SCHOOL INTERSECTION
* 7-11 Wants to Sell Booze (at Broken Heart)

HEARTLAND CAFE VIOLATES LIQUOR LAW

Kudos to Craig at Broken Heart for digging into this story. 

When RPB first hinted at this story last week, it set off a small firestorm of whispers and gossip. The rumors are true. The accusations are true. 

The Heartland Cafe, a vile institution with a door open to vermin and rats, whose sister bar the Red Line Tap maintained a broken window for six months, whose partner Michael James rents five garage spaces to unlicensed food vendors, is in serious breach of the conditions of it liquor license. 

Oh, but folks, this is just the beginning. Wait until you what's next. Scandal, scandal, scandal. Just wait. 

RELATED: 

• Question for Katy Hogan 
• Questions for Michael James 
• Heartland Cafe Open to Rats, Vermin 
• But Michael James Knows NOW... 
• Earth to Michael James: Shut Up

Joe Moore's Super Bowl Pub Crawl

Chicago Alderman Joe Moore (49th ward) made the rounds and bought people rounds of drinks in a number of Rogers Park taverns last night. 

Super Bowl Sunday, 2007: People with friends in bars, restaurants and taverns having a good time. They're thinking football, they're talking football. Suddenly, Alderman Joe Moore walks in and buys the house a round of drinks! Joe also handed out trinkets: key chain bottle openers that say "GO BEARS" and have Joe's name as well. (Does this violate NFL licensing rules?) Funny thing about those trinkets; the manufacturer's name is on them, but there is no union bug!!!

Of course, Joe didn't buy drinks with his own money, but with part of his $700,000-plus campaign war chest. What a guy.

Power to the People: Grassroots Victory on Clark Street

Ginderske 2007 has announced that the organizing effort regarding a liquor store on Clark Street has been successful, defeating a package license transfer application. A coalition of several dozen Rogers Park residents collaborated to defeat an attempt to transfer a liquor license at the corner of North Shore and Clark streets. On Friday, January 12, 2007, the city attorney announced that he had received a letter from the liquor store owner's attorney withdrawing their appeal of the denial of their application. Jim Ginderske, aldermanic candidate in Chicago's 49th Ward, worked with the Law Department of the City of Chicago to defeat the pending appeal. On Clark Street, between Devon and Pratt Avenues, there are currently five licensed package liquor dealers -- approximately one per block. In order to deter the opening of additional liquor stores, the City imposed a moratorium years ago. On February 8, 2006, in response to a request from a campaign contributor and without notice to local residents, Alderman Moore lifted the moratorium. Community activists noticed the filing two applications for liquor licenses; one by El Mexicano at Clark & North Shore and the other by La Bonita at Clark & Pratt. They contacted Joe Moore's office to complain, but were told by Moore's staff that the new liquor stores were a "done deal." Moore did not reveal that he had also accepted a $1,000 donation from the owner of El Mexicano the day after the moratorium was lifted. The community activists were disappointed, but not dissuaded by Moore's brush-off. Instead, they maintained their activism against the store. In addition to gathering signatures and writing protest letters, the community activists contacted Jim Ginderske for help. The Ginderske campaign team learned that El Mexicano was selling single cans of beer, malt liquor, and half-pints of hard liquor, in defiance of a prior commitment not to do so. The Ginderske team made public El Mexicano's unwillingness to follow the rules. Moore responded to the press release by distributing a flyer that labeled Jim's statements "lies," but he was quickly caught in his own web of deceit when Ginderske volunteers produced a video of the store selling the offending items (Watch the video on YouTube).