By Ben Joravsky
“It’s the combination of motorcycles and liquor that galvanizes opposition,” says Paul Jay, member of the Rogers Park Manor Block Club, which opposes the project. “The phrase ‘volatile mix’ is the one I use over and over.”
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What makes them popular to the upscale crowd is what made them popular to the Hell’s Angels: they’re big and loud. “When a Harley kicks up, you recognize the roar,” says the enthusiast. “It’s very impressive, if you go for that thing.”
But it’s not the menu that Rogers Park residents worry about–it’s the noise. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that motorcycle riders would be attracted to this restaurant,” says Jay. “Just imagine trying to sleep in the summer when you have 30 or so people coming out at closing time and revving up their engines.”
Brown contends that residents inflamed his antagonism when they gathered signatures to hold a November 5 referendum on voting the precinct dry (his is the only liquor establishment in the precinct). “I knocked on doors, I sent around letters–I did what I could to tell people what was going on,” he says. “And still they chose to try and vote me dry.”
Brown downplays the significance of the name. “Give me a break; it’s not dirty, that’s just the spelling of it. That’s just the name on the liquor license. It’s not on our checks. It won’t be the name of the bar. My lawyer’s secretary came up with it.”
