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Two prospective restaurants present liquor plans; board moves to reallocate a license at 610 East Holly
Summary
Owners of Cholita's Mexican Restaurant and a proposed Narrow Gate Brewery presented plans to the board for liquor licenses. Trustees also approved ordinances that change the number of certain license classes, including a decrease tied to Bosaki Homebrews license at 610 East Holly Street as part of the pending reorganization of the space.
Owners seeking liquor licenses described their plans and answered trustees questions Tuesday as the board considered updates to local license authorizations.
The presentations matter to residents and downtown businesses because licensing affects what restaurants can serve on site, business operations and how the village manages the inventory of state-authorized license classes locally.
At the start of liquor interest presentations, the mayor asked applicants to describe their requests. Nayeli, who identified herself as an owner of Cholitas Mexican Restaurant at 506 North Lake Street, said the restaurant seeks a class F liquor license to serve limited beer and cocktails "so we really just want to serve, you know, like a beer, a margarita, maybe 1 of those, Bloody Mary, for breakfast and then maybe like some cocktail drinks for dinner," and added she and her staff will complete Bassett training. She said the venue plans to remain family friendly; capacity in the space is roughly 60 people, and she said the business is not seeking full bar service or gaming.
Christine, representing Narrow Gate Brewing, told trustees she and her husband Michael plan to lease the former Bosaki Homebrew site at 610 East Holly Street, rebrand to Narrow Gate Brewery and offer on-premises craft beer plus a limited wine selection. "We also wanna add a wine option for people that do not drink craft beer," she said, and said the business is owner-operated initially while they finalize financing and lease terms.
Trustees asked about employee training and whether applicants planned to host gaming; both applicants said employees would complete responsible-sales training and that they do not plan immediate gaming offerings. Narrow Gate said it expects to collaborate with local restaurants and host community events and private rentals.
At the meeting the board also approved several ordinance amendments that change the number of authorized license classes for specific businesses. Among them: trustees voted to decrease the count of class M1 licenses as it related to Bosaki Homebrew at 610 East Holly Street; that ordinance passed after a motion by Trustee Morris and second by Trustee Schwenk. A separate omnibus set of license adjustments affecting multiple businesses (including license increases or decreases for other named establishments) was also approved during the meeting.
Trustees and speakers repeatedly encouraged applicants to follow local best practices such as ID policies; members of the audience urged applicants to adopt policies similar to other downtown businesses that do not accept vertical IDs.
The village clerk will provide next-step letters to the applicants outlining the permitting, training and state application processes; applicants present were invited to collect the letter and proceed with the next steps in the licensing process.
