Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced hat the city will impose a daily 9 p.m. curfew on liquor sales starting on Thursday. The city also announced two bars have allegedly served customers on premises and defied the state-mandated closure of all bars and dine-in restaurants imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Each bar faces a maximum $10,000 fine.
The liquor sales curfew will last indefinitely. Some liquor stores were closing early before the mayor’s announcement, according to Block Club Chicago. Liquor stores will no longer be able to sell alcohol, and restaurants (and third-party delivery services) won’t be able to deliver beer and wine. According to the city, they’ve received more than 1,000 complaints of businesses conducting operations and violating the stay-at-home order. That’s lead to city officials contacting 4,881 businesses over the phone. They’ve followed up with 690 in-person visits. The investigations have led to 21 citations split among eight businesses.
At prior news conferences, Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker had said they’d show leniency for violators, saying enforcement wasn’t a priority. But on Wednesday, Lightfoot vowed to collect the fines and use police to collect them. The mayor warned violators could also lose their liquor licenses.
Meanwhile, both Cortland’s Garage, a Bucktown bar at 1645 W. Cortland Street; and Ali Baba Hookah Bar at 4046 W. Lawrence Avenue in North Mayfair were listed as offenders for allowing dine-in customers during the stay-at-home order. They join a group of eight businesses fined for various infractions. For example a branch of Cermak Fresh Market was fined for not following social-distancing guidelines. Bikram Yoga West Loop was fined for remaining open and ignoring the state-ordered mandate that keeps non-essential businesses closed. Grocery stores, liquor stores and restaurant delivery are allowed open.
Cortland’s Garage issued a news release, calling the city’s allegations “wholly untrue.” A statement claims the incident in question involves two customers who were waiting for takeout while a worker employee grabbed their order. The customers didn’t consume food or drink at the bar, according to management.
“Cortland’s Garage is an essential business providing takeout food in full compliance with the State of Illinois’ Executive Order 2020-07,” the statement reads.
No one answered the phone at Ali Baba earlier Wednesday afternoon.