Forget What You’ve Heard about Steve Kapitan’s Resignation as City Clerk

***Update 5:45 p.m.*** The Facebook discussion on this post is here. I’m going to ask you to set aside for a few moments everything you’ve heard about why Steve Kapitan resigned as DeKalb city clerk in 2012. Instead, I’d like for you to entertain the possibility that he was a casualty of a DeKalb city…

Corn Fest Has a Liquor License. Guess Where the Bar Is?

DeKalb Corn Fest, Inc. now has its own liquor license, and its own special permit to serve liquor at Corn Fest in the great outdoors. My companion and I saw them about 5:30 p.m. We had to request to see these documents, because they weren’t posted anywhere: not at the gate to the beer garden,…

New Tapa La Luna Owners Were Issued a “Conditional” Liquor License

Thanks to Mac McIntyre of DeKalb County Online for capturing video highlights of yesterday’s City of DeKalb news conference — wherein we discover that the new Tapalaluna owners were issued a “conditional” liquor license so they could get state licensing and order supplies in preparation for a Valentine’s Day opening; and that the mayor (aka…

Applying for a Liquor License in DeKalb

[Correction 2/10: It is the liquor commissioner (mayor) who issues liquor licenses, not the city clerk. See this post for more information.] If your inner entrepreneur is telling you that bar ownership in DeKalb is worthy of some capital, here are a few things you need to know about obtaining a liquor license for your…

Quick Commentary on the Liquor Violation Hearings

If you haven’t been following this story, links are provided below. In a nutshell, two bars that served underage drinkers back in January were fined last week, while a third requested and got its hearing rescheduled. Charges were dropped against two other bars whose licensee had been accused of advertising free beer as a St.…

The March 17 Liquor Charges

The following comes from the April 13 City of DeKalb Notice of Hearing and Charges against O’Leary’s Irish Pub & Grill and its agent, Melvin P. Witmer, Jr. I’ve fixed a tiny typo and emboldened key information. The hearing shall relate to the following incidents: 1. That the licensee, UNIVERSAL RESTAURANT GROUP, INC. d/b/a O’LEARY’S…

Hearings on Liquor Code Violations Set

[Update: Added Krystal’s info 11:30 a.m.] The last post contained a prediction that hearings on liquor code violations from last January would be scheduled when NIU’s academic year ended. What do I win? They are scheduled for Thursday, May 13. From the Notice of Hearing and Charges issued by the City of DeKalb’s Legal Department…

Underage Drinking Violations You Haven’t Heard About

The Illinois Liquor Control Commission (ILCC) publishes monthly reports online about which liquor licensees have been “stung” for underage drinking violations. According to ILCC, last January three DeKalb establishments were caught serving alcohol to minors. Krystal’s, Otto’s, and Sullivan’s failed compliance checks made January 18.