BYOB May Come to Deerfield Restaurants

Brining your own wine or beer into a Deerfield restaurant may become a reality in the near future.

A change to the Village code allowing diners at local restaurants to bring their own wine and beer to consume with a meal is one of the things which the Village Board of Trustees will likely consider next month.

Earlier: Village Begins Work on Downtown Plaza

BYOB (bring your own bottle) legislation was one of the issues along with a charge for commercial leasing and further development of the park at the northeast corner of Deerfield and Waukegan Roads discussed at a Committee of the Whole meeting May 13.

Under the recommendations village staff will make to the Board, diners could bring one bottle of beer or wine with them to consume on the premises. Should they not finish the beverage, people must remove it in a sealed bag as required by state law. Any costs for diners would be charged by the eatery.

The idea springs from requests by Rhapsody Café and Bobby’s Deerfield to offer the service to their customers. It would expand opportunities for Bobby’s which has a license and open them for Rhapsody, which does not serve alcohol at this time.

“Bobby’s came to us,” Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said explaining restaurants were in favor. “They wanted to use it for a special (event). The liquor stores like it because it drives traffic to them.

Expressing support in general, trustees had some safety and regulatory concerns. People could drink more than a bottle’s worth if they consumed all of theirs and part of one brought by another member of their group.

“Restaurants have the responsibility to cut people off and we expect them to do that,” Rosenthal said explaining restaurants would handle safety concerns the same way for people consuming their own drinks or ones purchased directly from the establishment.

An establishment must apply for the BYOB license, meet the criteria nd pay the appropriate fee.

Village To Study Further Development of Downtown Park

After completing initial work on the park adjacent to US Bank on the northeast corner of Deerfield and Waukegan Roads, the trustees have decided to take a closer look at development options. A plan will be created for consideration.

Rosenthal has also been looking for ways to generate revenue from developed commercial real estate which does not generate sales tax like office buildings. One possibility is a charge for commercial leases, something already done elsewhere.

“We have more people coming in and they are not retailers but service functions,” Rosenthal said. This is also an idea where Rosenthal wants to enlist support of other communities rather than have Deerfield go it alone.

“After doing the research we want to refer it to the Illinois Municipal League or the Northwest Municipal Conference,” Rosenthal said referring to organizations that advocate for municipalities on the state level.

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