Anthony's bar agrees to close one hour early on weekends

JOLIET – Anthony's Restaurant and Pub agreed to close at 2 a.m. with no entertainment on weekend nights.

The agreement was reached with city officials Friday before a liquor commission hearing that was never held. Instead attorneys for the city and Anthony's, along with restaurant management, negotiated terms of an agreement for about an hour.

"They were cooperative, and we're going to work together so we have a safe city and they can continue to be profitable," Interim City Attorney Chris Regis said once the two sides reached an agreement.

A fight that included a shooting and stabbing broke out in the parking lot of Anthony's at about 2:40 a.m. on July 23, which was early Sunday. The bar has a permit allowing it stay open until 3 a.m. on weekends.

The agreement will not be official until sometime next week, and other details were not disclosed. Regis said the agreement will be official once it is signed by Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, who was on vacation this past week. The mayor also is the city's liquor commissioner.

Neither Regis nor Ed Masters, the attorney for Anthony's, would disclose specific terms of the agreement until they were pressed for what effect it would have on the business for the coming weekend.

"We're going to close at 2 and there's going to be no entertainment on Friday and Saturday," Masters said.

Regis said those provisions apply to the "foreseeable future" but still depend on the review by the mayor.

Regis also said the agreement deals with "changes to the business model" and matters related to the parking lot at Anthony's.

The hearing was scheduled in the aftermath of the July 23 shooting and stabbing, which started in Anthony's parking lot and spread across the street into the parking lot of Toys R Us. Anthony's, located at 3151 Voyager Lane, is in the heart of the retail and restaurant district that surrounds Louis Joliet Mall.

Another shooting on Feb. 5 occurred in the parking lot at about 12:30 a.m. but only a bar window was hit.

Anthony's has an extra-hours permit allowing it to stay open until 3 a.m. on weekends and an entertainment license permitting DJs and live bands.

The bar has had 73 calls for police service this year, and those calls are peaking after 2 a.m., Regis said. Police have been to Anthony's 132 times in the past three years.