Restaurants & Bars
Darien Bar Subject Of Noise Complaints
The bar's owner says two neighbors have been consistently complaining, but others are not.
DARIEN, IL — Two neighbors of the Q Bar in Darien have been complaining about noise from the bar over the last few months, but they are getting their facts wrong, the owner says.
Owner Bob Taft said at least one of them has taken to social media with "nonstop" grievances about the bar over the last few months.
"Last year, we had almost no complaints," he said.
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One of the neighbors goes by Kailie Soleil on Facebook, but she said her actual name is Mikaila Moore. She said her family moved last fall near Q Bar, which is at 8109 S. Cass Ave.
"We have had an extremely difficult time with the excessive noise level from Q Bar since the city gave them a permit to play outside," Moore said.
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Moore said noise from the bar has caused her children to stay up until 2 a.m.
"After months of calls to them and the police department, the time changed to 11 p.m. to now 10:30, but they rarely turn it down," Moore said. "The city has been zero help."
Taft said the city allowed the restaurant to have outdoor music during the pandemic and that it will continue outside into September.
But he said the outdoor music has not gone beyond 11 p.m., let alone until 2 a.m. He said the musicians start shutting down at 10:30 p.m. Outside music ends at 10 p.m. on weekdays.
Other than the outdoor music, the bar has been doing the same thing for 35 years, Taft said. He has owned it for two decades.
"The only things that changed were due to the pandemic," he said. "We couldn't have indoor seating."
He said Q Bar has a good rapport with Darien police.
"We have very few incidents here," he said. "When we get a noise complaint, they call me right away."
He described the 15,000-square-foot establishment as an "overgrown neighborhood bar," with mostly Darien customers.
As it happens, Taft purchased the entire Darien Plaza, where Q Bar is located, earlier this year.
City officials did not return a message for comment about the noise complaints.
Noise from bars has also been an issue in Burr Ridge over the last few months.
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