Music Box Karaoke Bar Gets a 2nd Chance With a Liquor License

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — The owner of a village karaoke bar and restaurant has been given a second chance with a liquor license after it wasn't renewed almost five years ago because of concerns over a former owner's prostitution arrests, according to the Daily Herald.

The Arlington Heights Village Board unanimously approved Tuesday the return of a Class A liquor license to The Music Box, 224 E. Golf Road, for current owner Song Han, the report stated. The business will receive the license in the next two weeks, the report added.

The village didn't renew the liquor license in May of 2012 — the place was known as Ding Dong Dang then — citing paperwork errors and windows in the karaoke room that were obscured, the report stated. Officials also had questions concerning former owner Myeong Lim's two arrests for prostitution while a masseuse in Buffalo Grove in 2010 and 2011, the report added.

RELATED: Arlington Heights Karaoke Bar Looks to Get Liquor License Back

Han, who is Lim's stepsister and now the 100-percent owner of The Music Box, unsuccessfully reapplied for a liquor license in 2012 and 2013, the Herald reports. But because she passed a background check and business hasn't had issues with the police and health departments, the board granted Han's request this time around, according to the report.

The approval comes at a crucial time for The Music Box, which has had sales drop 40 percent in the past four years, the report stated. Han, who has gotten loans and maxed our her credit cards to keep the bar afloat, hopes being able to serve alcohol will help revive the business, the report added.

More via the Daily Herald

photo via Shutterstock

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