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Residents say Cafe Mimoza is operating as an illegal nightclub and its patrons are causing disturbances on the block. Meetings between city officials and the owner haven't helped, they said.
LINCOLN SQUARE — Neighbors and a Lincoln Square alderman frustrated with a business they accuse of operating as an illegal nightclub said city hearings haven’t stopped the spot’s loud late-night music and rowdy parties.
Cafe Mimoza, 2625 W. Lawrence Ave., is one of two businesses that have generated backlash from neighbors who live in condos upstairs. It and Sandunga Bar and Grill, 2619 W. Lawrence Ave., are advertised as restaurants, but residents have told Block Club food service seems to be lacking and both host parties that go on well after midnight.
RELATED: 2 Lincoln Square Restaurants Are Operating As Late-Night Clubs With Loud Music, Rowdiness And Fights, Neighbors Say
Representatives with the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection have hosted multiple meetings with both business owners and Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) to try to resolve the complaints.
Things have gotten better at Sandunga and the owner has made changes to minimize noise, neighbors said. But little has changed at Cafe Mimoza, they said.
Even after the city began hosting meetings, there was a fight outside Cafe Mimoza and the business was reported for a liquor license violation, Vazquez and neighbors said.
“For a little while after a meeting, Cafe Mimoza does quiet down for about two weeks,” neighbor Paula Borman said. “But then slowly the jukebox started ramping back up again. Then we go right back to square one within about a week of the most recent meeting.” 
Cafe Mimoza owner David E. Velis has dismissed the complaints and blamed Sandunga for the problems. He did not return requests for comment.
Neighbors who live above Cafe Mimoza have said the business does not have any posted hours, online presence or a listed phone number. The noise level is loudest from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., they said.
Records show police were called to the business nearly 100 times between Feb. 28, 2019 and March 5, 2023. 
The most recent incident occurred around 1:20 a.m. May 31, neighbors and Vasquez said. Neighbors called police to report a fight happening outside the business.
The neighbor who called police went outside to wait for officers and found that Cafe Mimoza was the only business still open along the block, Borman said. 
“Sandunga, Monti’s and Green Post were all closed. When the fight happened, they stood out there until the police came,” Borman said.  
A neighbor showed Vasquez footage of the fight, he said. It wasn’t shown during the most recent meeting, but neighbors did report it to business department officials, Vasquez said.
“A woman is involved and a man, and they’re yelling at each other and it’s kind of ramping up. And Mimoza was the only establishment that was open at the time. So it was pretty clear where they were coming from,” Vasquez said. 
Police received two calls for service at 1:46 a.m. and 1:47 a.m. May 31, according to a department spokesperson. Officers did not arrest anyone or file a report because they didn’t see anyone on scene when they arrived, police said. 
The city blocked reporters from the most recent meeting for Cafe Mimoza on June 22. Neighbors and Vasquez spoke to Block Club afterwards about what was discussed. 
Besides the fight, Vasquez said he’s frustrated the city business department has not pressed Cafe Mimoza to provide more substantive information about its food and liquor purchases, sales and copies of contracts with garbage and other vendors, he said. 
“If you’re going to ask about their agreements, well, I’d like to know when they started that agreement. Did they start one just after these meetings started happening? Was there something prior? They said they have a menu, but how much food had they been selling prior to these meetings?” Vasquez said. “I think we need to know about this.”
Cafe Mimoza also hosted a live band in November, Vasquez said. 
“Look, if you’re having a live band performing, then you are booking that. Somebody had to pay for it, right? So it’s not something the owner doesn’t know about,” Vasquez said. “The owner and his attorney kept being squirrelly about it during the meeting. We need the documentation for this stuff. Because I’ll tell you right now, the answers that were given are not ones that we’re comfortable with.” 
A liquor license violation at Cafe Mimoza was also reported between May 18 and June 22, but business department officials didn’t share details about what happened during the meeting, Vasquez said.
In an emailed statement, a city spokesperson said the business department’s meetings are intended to be “productive mediation between impacted community members and the licensee” but didn’t directly address questions about the May 31 fight or liquor violation.
“Community meetings are designed to resolve complaints made against a business in Chicago without resorting to license discipline. Such complaints often include loitering, trash, excessive noise, traffic congestion, and public intoxication,” the statement said. 
Successful meetings typically lead to a business owner agreeing to a “Plan of Corrective Action” that includes steps that need to be taken to address the community complaints, officials said.
These can include reducing hours of operation, requiring security staff and adding security cameras, officials said. Corrective action plans don’t have an end date, although some include terms with timelines allowing for adjustments, officials said. 
But if the meetings aren’t fruitful, the business department can refer a case to the Law Department for license discipline, officials said. 
Cafe Mimoza continues to have issues even after city officials gave the owner a list of recommendations to resolve the problems, Vasquez said.
The business department needs to be more aggressive about seeking out documentation and receipts from Velis to make sure he’s doing what he says he’s doing to address neighbors’ complaints and following the business department’s corrective action, Vasquez said.
“We want to make sure that the community can be supportive of local businesses over there that are doing the right things. But it appears, to me, from that latest meeting that there’s still a lot of work to do with Cafe Mimoza,” Vasquez said. 
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