CITY HALL — Bars and other licensed businesses tied to repeated violence or nuisance complaints could face stricter regulations under a proposed ordinance that would give city officials more authority to require security changes and deny or revoke licenses.
The ordinance stems from concerns raised by several aldermen over what they describe as “problem bars” in their wards. Under current city regulations, bars, taverns and other licensed businesses can continue operating while working through remedial measures with the community and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
Prominent examples include Seven Lounge in Belmont Cragin and Habibti in the West Loop. In both cases, the businesses have remained open while their respective aldermen in the 31st and 27th wards say the owners have skirted corrective measures imposed by the business affairs office and continue to cause problems in their communities.
Seven Nightclub as seen on June 9, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
In Chicago, if a business has received numerous complaints from surrounding residents, the local alderman can request a series of community meetings between the business owner, residents and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
The meetings, led by attorneys with the business affairs division, are not formal legal proceedings. Instead, they are intended to address nuisance complaints and establish corrective measures for businesses before the city considers pursuing legal action to officially suspend or revoke a license.
However, residents and aldermen have often complained that the process can lag for years before corrective action is taken.
Habibti has been going through the community meeting process since June following complaints from neighbors, while Seven Lounge has been going through a similar process for more than a year after several shootings outside the business.
Ald. Feliz Cardona Jr. (31st) takes a phone call before a City Council meeting on Dec. 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Both businesses have been asked to take various “reasonable steps” outlined by Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to address neighborhood concerns. The community meetings serve as check-ins on that progress, but Ald. Felix Cardona (31st) told Block Club he has grown frustrated with a process that has produced little change.
“My community is fed up. They’re like, we’re going through this and nothing’s happening,” Cardona said. “We’re going through this community meeting … but they’re still continuing to do their things and are not respecting the neighborhood. I’m fed up.”
Ordinance Would Give City More Leverage
The proposed ordinance would give the city leverage when businesses fail to follow corrective measures, particularly when their licenses come up for renewal.
Under the proposal, Business Affairs and Consumer Protection would be able to force operational adjustments on businesses aimed at addressing nuisances, including adding security, restricted hours, parking controls, outdoor lighting and security cameras. Failure to follow those requirements could eventually be used to fine, suspend or revoke a business’s license.
Currently, businesses don’t legally have to follow the department’s recommendations, but inaction is held against the business during formal licensing disciplinary hearings, according to previous community meetings attended by Block Club.
The ordinance would also strengthen the role a business’s history plays when its liquor license comes up for renewal.
Habibti at 116 N Aberdeen. Credit: Melody Mercado, Block Club Chicago
Feedback from police, the local alderman and other city departments about arrests, calls for service, violations and other incidents tied to the business would be taken into account. Officials could also consider whether an owner followed previous plans of operation, corrective-action plans or nuisance-abatement plans when deciding whether to renew a license, according to the ordinance.
Ald. Walter Redmond Burnett (27th), who has been dealing with complaints surrounding Habibti, a restaurant neighbors say has been operating like a club, said the ordinance would force businesses to comply with Business Affairs and Consumer Protection recommendations.
“The goal is to tie [it] to the renewal process when they’re problem establishments,” Burnett said. “If you are out of compliance, we have an ability to enforce remediation … subject to closure if you do not comply.”
The proposal also adds additional layers of accountability for businesses reopening after a summary closure. A summary closure is issued by the Chicago Police Department if a business is deemed a public safety threat, and is most typically issued after a shooting.
A summary closure order issued on July 20 to the Lyon’s Den Hookah Lounge, 2123 W. Division St., in Ukrainian Village. Credit: Quinn Myers/Block Club Chicago
Businesses reopening after a summary closure are subject to “nuisance-abatement plans.” The new proposal would implement them within 30 days, unless another timeline is specified. If another violent incident happens, the city could shut the business down unless the owner can show they were following the plan and taking steps to prevent further problems.
Cardona and Burnett said those types of consequences are missing from the current process, which allows “problem bars” to stay open while nuisances persist.
In Ukrainian Village, it took about a year and a half for the city to revoke the license of Lyon’s Den Hookah Lounge after a bouncer was shot and killed outside the business in early 2023. Neighbors called for the lounge to be shut down after the shooting, but the business remained open as it went through community hearings and a city-imposed “plan of corrective action.”
In River North, Bottled Blonde also remained open for years despite hundreds of complaints from neighbors who said the restaurant was operating as an unlicensed nightclub. At the time, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said his office had fielded hundreds of complaints in the business’s first two years. The city successfully revoked the club’s license in 2019 after a lengthy court battle.
Restaurant Industry Raises Concerns
The Illinois Restaurant Association agrees the city needs stronger tools to deal with “bad actors,” but President Sam Toia said the current proposal could also create problems for businesses that are following the rules.
“There’s a lot of nuance in there that I’m not crazy about, and a lot of my members are not crazy about,” Toia said.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, holds his face during a City Council meeting on March 18, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
One concern is how the ordinance treats businesses that are licensed to sell alcohol as a secondary part of what they do. Under the proposal, if more than half of a business’s revenue comes from alcohol sales, it would have to operate under a tavern license.
Current city rules distinguish restaurants from taverns based on whether alcohol is secondary to the business’s main activity, but they do not set a specific sales percentage. The ordinance would create a 50 percent threshold, meaning businesses would have to operate under a tavern license if more than half of their revenue comes from alcohol sales.
Toia said that could create problems for high-end restaurants or businesses in busy entertainment districts, where the cost of alcohol can sometimes outweigh the cost of a meal even if the business still operates primarily as a restaurant.
He gave the example of two people ordering an expensive bottle of wine with dinner, which could push the alcohol portion of the bill above the food.
“Let’s figure out an ordinance that goes after the bad actors and actresses,” Toia said. “Let’s not throw a big net that will catch people that are good operators.”
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the conversion of 500 N. Michigan Ave. in Mag Mile on July 29, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Toia and the sponsors of the ordinance are set to meet and work through some of the association’s concerns. He called all four alders — Burnett, Cardona, Reilly and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) — “pragmatic,” saying he’d “rather be at the table than on the menu.”
Reilly, Burnett and Cardona all told Block Club their intentions are not to hurt businesses that follow the rules. Waguespack could not be reached for comment Thursday.
“It is my hope that — working with leaders in the hospitality industry — we can craft a narrowly-focused [and] effective ordinance that pumps the brakes on only a handful of license renewals for bad actors who put public safety at risk and deserve a review of their licensing,” Reilly said in an email.
Cardona said he hopes to have the ordinance heard in committee next month after meeting with Toia and other stakeholders.
______________________________________________________________________
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
Dining and Cooking