CHICAGO (CBS) — Restaurants and taverns in Chicago could soon start serving mimosas and Bloody Marys with brunch an hour earlier on Sundays.
The City Council License Committee has endorsed a plan to allow restaurants and bars that serve food to begin selling alcohol at 9 a.m. on Sundays. They’re currently allowed to begin Sunday liquor sales at 10 a.m.
Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), who co-sponsored the proposed change in liquor sale hours, said it was prompted in part by the growing popularity of European soccer.
“Because of the growing popularity of watching games from Europe, many of our establishments would like to open up a little bit earlier to be able to play the games, and of course have brunch,” she said.
While customers would not be required to order food with their drinks on Sunday mornings, taverns would only be allowed to serve booze between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sundays if alcohol sales or giveaways are “incidental or secondary to the serving of food.”
Smith said allowing earlier alcohol sales on Sundays would provide a financial boost to local eateries.
“Our restaurants would have the opportunity to basically have another turn of their tables; which I think is very, very good for business,” she said.
In other business, the License Committee also approved a pilot program allowing nonprofit agencies to buy one-day permits allowing employees to park in zones reserved for residents.
Non-profits would be able to purchase up to 30 daily residential zone parking permits for each of up to five employees to park in three specific zones in the 44th and 43rd Wards, where street parking is already difficult to find.
To qualify, the non-profits would have to be licensed by the state and located within the designated residential parking zone, or on an adjacent street.
Erik Wallenius, chief of staff for 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith, said the ordinance revives a pilot program that ended in 2018, and would help employees of groups like Alcoholics Anonymous find parking for meetings in crowded areas near Wrigley Field, and in parts of Old Town and Lincoln Park.
The full City Council will vote on both ordinances at its next meeting on Wednesday.
Source: CBS Chicago
