Broadway Bar at Standstill After Alderman’s Objection (PHOTOS)

Poor business management and multiple issues with crime has Ald. James Cappleman (46th) and area residents saying “No” to a new bar proposed in Lake View.

Sitting on the community’s northern border at North Broadway and Irving Park Road, the Broadway Tavern's owner Burim “Brian Menetti” Mehmeti applied for a tavern license only to have the alderman strongly resist its approval.

Cappleman wrote a letter in late December to the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, citing major issues with Mehmeti’s other businesses like the Lawrence House and the Green Dolphin Street. Since the letter, the owner’s newest project at 4001 N. Broadway has been at a standstill.

“An applicant with such a poor record of management should not be allowed another opportunity to operate in the city, and certainly not with the added potential for problems that comes with a liquor license,” he wrote.

The letter also talks about the corner of Irving Park and North Broadway, calling it a corner that could be transformed into something great, but right now, it has crime issues of its own.

Broadway Tavern would only add to those issues, Cappleman said.

“It is an area with great potential and interest for development, but the neighborhood has also fought and continues to fight with public intoxication, aggressive panhandling, loitering and other serious quality of life issues that would only be exacerbated by a tavern operating at this location,” Cappleman wrote.

When neighbors heard Mehmeti’s plans to open a new bar, they rallied with Cappleman. The alderman included their sentiments along with his own.

Mehmeti could not immediately be reached for comment about the bar’s status now two months after the alderman’s letter to the commission. Cappleman’s Aldermanic Aide Dana Fritz said he hasn’t heard any news about the property since sending the letter.

The proposed bar is one block north of Hotel Chateau, a property with a similar history of issues. Chateau was most recently confirmed sold and its residents evicted for a gut-rehab. 

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