Wicker Park club, alderman's restaurant cited for defying indoor service ban

CHICAGO - Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) Lake View Ann Sather Restaurant and a Wicker Park club that held a party with 142 mask-less patrons were among the latest businesses to be cited by the city for violating the city and state’s indoor service ban.

Tunney’s three Ann Sather’s locations were investigated by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection after the alderman admitted Monday that he “made a mistake” by allowing some of his regular customers to dine inside his businesses.

“While no COVID-19 violations were found during these investigations, it was determined that the Ann Sather Restaurant located at 909 W. Belmont Ave. had [been] previously allowing indoor dining,” a statement from the city department said.

Illinois restaurants were ordered to cease indoor service in late October for a second time during the coronavirus pandemic to stop a second surge of cases.

Tunney’s admission came after the “Second City Cop” blog disclosed that he had been serving guests and posted pictures of food on indoor tables. On one table, there was a copy of the Dec. 3 newspaper near a slice of bacon.

Tunney faces a maximum fine of $10,500 for the two citations, but the final amount won’t be determined until his administrative hearing.

In a statement, Tunney said: “We cooperated fully with BACP’s investigation yesterday and received the citations this morning. Because our case will not be heard until February, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time. Again, we regret our error in judgement.”

The Wicker Loft, at 1257 N. Milwaukee Ave., also received multiple citations for COVID-19 and business license violations and indoor smoking after the city broke up a party there Saturday.

The second floor of the residential building was also closed for fire code violations, including an obstructed rear egress and no smoke detectors, according to the city.

In late November, the city shut down a 300-person party at The Vault, another Wicker Park business in the 1600 block of West Division Street.

Since March, the city has investigated 6,994 instances of COVID-19 violations and cited 344 businesses.

Six other businesses that were issued citations for activity between Dec. 3 and Dec. 5 include:

• Zapotlan Bar, at 3923-25 S. Kedzie Ave., for allegedly allowing indoor alcohol consumption.
• River North Crossfit, at 330 W. Ontario Ave., for allegedly conducting indoor fitness classes and patrons without face masks
• Randy’s Lounge, at 7512 S. Cottage Grove Ave. for allegedly holding an indoor event with 42 attendees eating and drinking without social distancing or face masks.
• Volare, at 201-05 E. Grand Ave. for allegedly allowing indoor dining.
• Firewater Saloon, at 6689-95 N. Oliphant Ave., for allegedly allowing indoor dining.
• Flava Luxx, at 2912 W. Madison Ave., for allegedly holding an indoor event with 22 attendees eating and drinking without social distancing or face masks.