The beloved Wrigleyville tavern Nisei Lounge turned the latest goal in a collection of bar and restaurant break-ins after an individual eliminated a window and ransacked the bar early on Friday morning, tavern administration stated.
Pat Odon, Nisei Lounge’s director of beer and baseball operations, stated somebody eliminated a pane of glass, took money and “totally tossed the back area looking for money and valuables” round 7 a.m. Friday.
The bar was closed and no workers have been on the premises on the time, workers and administration stated.
The bar, an iconic hangout for Cubs followers at 3439 N. Sheffield Ave., has began retaining much less money readily available and leaving its money registers open in what Odon stated was a response to a string of restaurant and bar burglaries all through the summer time.
A bar close to Odon’s house was robbed final week within the early morning hours, he stated. Earlier this month, a string of break-ins, together with one at an open institution, made the rounds on group messages amongst bartenders and bar managers.
“All summer it’s been a once or twice a week drumbeat of ‘Did you hear? We got hit; so-and-so got hit,’ ” Odon stated.
Bartender Val Capone stated she closed up Thursday night, placing bar stools on the tables by the window as she’d executed for years and leaving money registers out and empty to discourage bother.
She woke as much as a telephone filled with messages concerning the break-in.
“I actually closed a little early because I felt unsafe because there have been so many things,” she stated. “We’d heard about other bars in the neighborhood getting smash-and-grabs.”
Capone stated the break-in left her shaken.
“I don’t like being right,” she stated. “It’s such an unnerving feeling. It’s like my house got broken into.”
Odon stated there might have been much more harm with out the not too long ago carried out precautions.
“If it hadn’t been for recent media coverage of all the restaurant and bar burglaries this would have been way worse,” he stated.
Bar workers had already slashed the amount of money readily available by two-thirds, Odon stated. Now they are going to possible cut back it much more.
“There’s going to be even less cash on hand and when we run out we’ll tell people to use cards,” Odon stated.
Odon stated the Nisei Lounge might want to change the window, improve its housebreaking alarms and cameras and assess the harm within the bar itself.
Odon stated the price of repairs wouldn’t be low cost however that he’d fielded many inquiries from involved neighbors and patrons.
“There’s been a gratifying amount of people asking if the bar is OK,” he stated.
The window is already boarded up, according to a post on X, previously often called Twitter.
The bar opened at 1 p.m. Friday “out of principle,” Odon stated.
A Chicago Police Department spokesperson stated officers had been on the scene Friday morning however that the division couldn’t present particulars of their response.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com