Chicago restaurants scrap New Year’s Eve plans as city pledges to keep watch: ‘I made the tough call. It’s a bummer.’
After a rough 2020, Houndstooth Saloon owner Stephanie Cook felt a flicker of optimism about New Year’s Eve as she planned an all-you-can-eat shrimp and crab boil in the bar’s heated outdoor cabins.
Based on what she described as “a rumor that the city would extend seating” for the holiday, Cook envisioned a final seating from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., with tickets selling at a premium for when 2021 arrived — up to $125 from $100 for earlier reservations.
The problem? The rumors weren’t true. The city’s COVID-19 restrictions mandating that restaurants and bars close by 11 p.m. would remain in effect — even on New Year’s Eve.
When her Lakeview-area chamber of commerce confirmed as much Wednesday, Cook said, she canceled the late seating, leaving her earlier events intact.
Cook said she was “extremely” disappointed to lose potential business as the clock strikes midnight, especially in a year that has been devastating for many bars and restaurants.
“It’s a bummer, because it’s normally one of our biggest nights of the year,” Cook said.
She said she considered flouting the rules and going ahead with the late seating.
“I gave a lot of thought to it,” she said. “But the outdoor cabins are very visible from the street, and it wasn’t worth the potential trouble. I made the tough call.”
At least a handful of Chicago bars and restaurants had plans for New Year’s Eve celebrations that flout the city’s COVID-19 regulations. Some have been canceled, as the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection pledged to enforce restrictions throughout the holiday weekend.
The agency “will not hesitate to take enforcement action by issuing citations with fines of up to $10,000 and closing businesses if necessary,” according to a news release.
Girl and the Goat and Avli Taverna in Lincoln Park were among restaurants that canceled events in the days — and sometimes hours — leading up to New Year’s Eve night.
Girl and the Goat, the Fulton Market mainstay fronted by chef Stephanie Izard, was selling tickets at $165 per person for a pop-up dinner at River West event space Galleria Marchetti that featured “a multicourse, family-style meal for up to six people” and a midnight toast.
But once the restaurant became aware of the 11 p.m. cutoff being enforced, the event was called off, a restaurant spokeswoman said.
Greek restaurant Avli had planned a modest New Year’s Eve celebration that nodded to the realities of ringing in a new year during a pandemic.
Kicking off at 11 p.m. Thursday, and for $15, the Lincoln Park restaurant was offering “a welcome cocktail, socially distanced seating and access to Chef Fernando’s late-night bites” on its heated patio.
“Black mask attire only,” the restaurant said on Tock, where tickets were sold.
Reached by phone Thursday, Avli manager John Spartiatis said he was unaware of the regulations and would not go ahead with the event.
“We’d be happy to cancel it,” Spartiatis said. “We won’t defy the city restrictions.”
Within an hour, the event was removed from Tock, and the handful of people who had bought tickets received an email announcing its cancellation and subsequent refunds. (The restaurant blamed “leaking water freezing over on our patio” for the change of plans.)
In the suburbs, where bars and restaurants are largely free to operate beyond 11 p.m., New Year’s Eve events will go on as planned.
Among them is Buffalo Creek Brewing in Long Grove, which is offering charcuterie and all-you-can-drink beer for parties of up to six people around outdoor fire pits for $480. Brewery owner Mike Marr said he sold six of 12 packages.
“We do feel very fortunate to be open (for New Year’s Eve),” Marr said. “Every minute we’ve been open this year we’ve been fortunate. The three months we were shut down hard — it was kind of lonely around here.”
