City fines Lakeview alderman’s restaurant $2,000 for secret indoor dining service

The city of Chicago has fined Alderman Tom Tunney’s Ann Sather restaurant $2,000 for serving breakfast at its flagship Lakeview location last year in violation of the state’s COVID restrictions.

Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection handed down the fine during a hearing February 16, Eater Chicago reported.

One of the images published by Second City Cop shows people dining at Ann Sather restaurant in violation of the state’s COVID restrictions. | Second City Cop

Tunney found himself fending off widespread criticism after the now-shuttered Second City Cop blog posted photos December 7 of people eating breakfast at the restaurant, 909 West Belmont. At the time, Illinois and city COVID mitigation efforts prohibited restaurants from serving diners indoors.

The city said in December that Tunney faced up to $10,500 in fines for the violations.

Three days after Second City Cop published photos of the diners, Tunney told constituents in a newsletter that he served customers indoors “on a sporadic basis.” He called the practice “an error in judgment and won’t happen again.

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