CHICAGO (CBS) — For 117 years, a small part of the Lincoln Square neighborhood has banned alcohol sales, meaning stores and restaurants can’t get liquor licenses, but voters could change that next month.
A Lincoln Square restaurant owner has taken the initiative to abolish a 1907 law that kept the 9th Precinct in the 47th Ward “dry” while adjacent parts of the neighborhood remained wet.
Lucia Herrejon is setting the tables for the lunch rush at Lincoln Square Mexican restaurant XOchimilco, but there’s one thing she can’t bring out yet: booze.
“We’ve had guests walk out when they realize, ‘Oh, you don’t have any margaritas,’” says Herrejon, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband.
They started as a BYOB business in 2018, but decided to apply for a liquor license last year, hoping that alcohol sales would add some stability to their bottom line after the pandemic and inflation took a toll on profit margins.
“I didn’t think anything was going to happen. It was, you know, inspectors came that day and everything went well. We approved everything and then we get a phone call,” Herrejon said. “It was John, our lawyer, who informed us that he had received an email from the… [liquor control] Commissioner, to let him know that this area had been voted dry.”
The 47th Ward’s 9th District was voted “dry” in 1907, predating Prohibition, and has remained “dry” ever since.
The district is less than half a mile wide in each direction. A restaurant at the end of the same block and across the street from XOchimilco sells alcohol, and Herrejon said if a restaurant opened across the street, they would also qualify.
XOchimilco is north of Montrose Avenue – the dry cutting extends only a few blocks in either direction, likely due to age-old concerns about a plan for Welles Park.
“It is my understanding that there were discussions around the turn of the century about establishing a German beer hall and perhaps some sort of carnival or theme park at or near Welles Park,” said Ald. Matt Martin (47th).
Martin said he was surprised to see the law still on the books, and believes repealing the ban would help businesses in the area.
‘Another prospective company, a Small Cheval that wanted to move in, was planning to move just down the street. Both said they need real on-site consumption to have viable businesses, whether to maintain operations or relocate. inside,” said Martijn.
Herrejon said she will watch the referendum results on election night, hoping the restaurant’s BYOB signs will soon be a sign of a bygone era.
“Oh yeah, definitely, it will be nerve-wracking,” Herrejon said.
Voters in the 47th Ward’s 9th District will be asked whether the alcohol ban should remain in effect, so voters who want to get rid of the ban should vote no.
Lincoln Square isn’t the only one suffering from a “dry” part of the neighborhood. It turns out that there are small groups all over Chicago who – for one reason or another – still ban the sale of alcohol. As in the case of Lincoln Square, it would take approval from voters at the ballot box to change that.
