Elk Grove bar to remain open after hearing

Attitude, an Elk Grove Village bar on Higgins Road, will remain open after the village's liquor commission found it not guilty of selling alcohol to two 20 year olds and an 18 year old and allowing them to remain on the premises.

However, the bar was found to be in violation of the village's law that expects its bar managers to have background checks and to have a manager on the premises whenever liquor is present.

But that lesser charge will not result in the bar being closed down, which would've likely happened if the verdict had been the other way.

Attitude will be expected to pay the court costs of the case, which could be as high as $6,000, said Village Attorney George Knickerbocker.

"This is not like a slap on the hands for them," Knickerbocker said.

On Saturday, Feb. 6, Attitude was accused of allowing two men and a woman, all under 21, into the bar without checking for identification.

In a previous hearing, the trio said they were never checked for identification.

But in a videotape from the bar shown Tuesday, it appears that at least one of the men had been asked for identification before being served, village officials said.

Bar owner Velitchka Bontcheva said she believed all of them had been carded, but they all had fake identification, so they got in.

After the verdict, she said she was pleased with it.

"I think they did a good job," Bontcheva said. "I think the mayor and the commission were fair to us."

It was the third time the bar had been accused of serving liquor to people who were not of legal age. The two other times the establishment at 1000 E. Higgins Road had been found guilty and been fined. The bar likely would have been closed down for a time if it was found guilty of a third offense.

Bontcheva said she regrets leaving the bar 15 minutes before it completely closed down. She had left the bar that night to go to another job, leaving a bartender in charge. The lights had been turned on and there had been a call for guests to leave soon, she said.

She also said she will have her daughter, who sometimes fills in as a manager, take a background check, so that she'd be able to manage the bar by herself in accordance with village code.