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City Shuts Down Mount Greenwood Restaurant, Unlicensed Club In Little Village For COVID-19 Violations

CHICAGO (CBS) -- City officials shut down illegal large gatherings over the weekend at a country western restaurant in Mount Greenwood and an unlicensed club in Little Village, and cited nearly a dozen other businesses for violating state and city COVID-19 restrictions.

The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) ordered a long-term closure of Firewater Saloon Mount Greenwood, at 3908 W. 111th St., after authorities found the restaurant was hosting an indoor gathering with nearly 100 people over the weekend, according to a BACP spokesman.

Indoor dining and bar service have been prohibited in Chicago since Oct. 30, as part of the state's efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 during a resurgence of the pandemic last fall.

Although restaurants and bars are allowed to serve customers outdoors, or to offer delivery or pickup, Firewater Saloon must remain closed until they submit a city-approved plan to safely reopen.

The city also shut down an unlicensed club at 2881 W. Cermak Rd. in Little Village over the weekend, after officials discovered the club was hosting an indoor gathering with 68 people, and requiring a cover charge to get in. The city issued a cease and desist order for operating an unlicensed club.

Eleven other businesses were cited over the weekend for violating COVID-19 restrictions:

  • Barraco's Pizza, at 2105-2121 W. 95th St., for allowing indoor dining;
  • Cafe Istanbul, at 2014 W. Division St., for allowing indoor dining;
  • Canton Regio, at 1510 W. 18th St., for allowing indoor dining;
  • Chicago-Bridgeport VFW, at 3200 S. May St., for allowing indoor drinking;
  • Dee's Candy Land, at 648 E. 75th St., for allowing indoor dining and drinking;
  • Estrella Blanca Night Club, at 3049 N. Cicero Av., for allowing indoor drinking;
  • Eurostars Hotel, at 660 N. State St., for failure to comply with social distancing requirements;
  • Hookah Time & Habano Cigar, at 6416 N. Lehigh Av., for allowing indoor smoking
  • King Crab House, at 1816 N. Halsted St., for allowing indoor dining;
  • McGee's Jukebox, at 7000 S. Halsted St., for allowing indoor dining and drinking;
  • Mitchell's Tap, at 3356 S. Halsted St., for allowing indoor dining and drinking.

Over the weekend, the city conducted a total of 107 investigations into possible violations of COVID-19 regulations, and issued 13 citations. Since March, the city has conducted more than 8,000 such investigations, and cited 416 businesses.

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Thursday morning she hopes the city can roll back the current Tier 2 state virus mitigations by next week, and allow for restaurants and bars to resume limited indoor service.

To move from Tier 2 to Tier 1, a region must have a 7-day average test positivity rate below 8% for three days in a row, have at least 20% of its hospital beds and intensive care unit beds available for three consecutive days, and have no sustained increase in COVID hospitalizations for 7 of the past 10 days.

Arwady said the city already meets the hospitalization metrics to enter Tier 1, but has not yet moved its test positivity rate below 8% for three days in a row. She said the city's positivity rate has been at 8% for the past couple days, so if it can move below 8% soon, the city could enter Tier 1 by next week if the rate continues to drop.

"As always, we continue to follow the metrics," Arwady said. "The way things are going I think it may be able to happen within a week."

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