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Nouveau Tavern Now Only Open on Weekends, Sets up Petition Drive

 Nouveau Tavern at 358 W. Ontario St. has been embattled with neighbors since it opened.
Nouveau Tavern at 358 W. Ontario St. has been embattled with neighbors since it opened.
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DNAinfo/Lizzie Schiffman Tufano

RIVER NORTH — Nouveau Tavern in River North, a controversial late-night restaurant that has been butting heads with neighbors and the Downtown alderman for more than a year, announced Wednesday that it would close weeknights and only operate on weekends while it rallies for support to restore late-night hours.

Teddy Gilmore, Nouveau's promotions director, said management decided to scale back its hours Tuesday, and the "Southern-style" restaurant will reopen this weekend.

The move comes about a month after Nouveau's owners reached a deal with city officials to remain open solely as a restaurant, and not host live music or DJ events, after residents complained they were hosting frequent events better suited to a nightclub.

Their new hours were set from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. City Hall had pursued shutting down the business outright through its Drug and Gang House Ordinance after conflicts continued between management, neighbors and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd).

Meanwhile, Gilmore and Nouveau owner Marsette Mangum maintain they are being unfairly targeted by city officials, and have set up an online petition to rally support for the business, which Gilmore wants to reopen late at night. More than 200 people have signed the petition so far. 

"We're going to continue to fight," Gilmore said. "[The deal with the city] is costing us money anyway, so we're closing during the week."

The case between the city and Nouveau's owners is still pending in Cook County Circuit Court, while a court-ordered eviction issued earlier this year against the restaurant is out on appeal. Chicago attorney Robert A. Boron, who represents Nouveau's landlord in the rent dispute, was unaware that the restaurant decided to close during weekdays. 

Nouveau was briefly shut down by police over a licensing issue last year, and also temporarily closed last month before they reached an earlier deal with the city. Reilly, who recently co-sponsored a new "problem bar" ordinance, has called Nouveau a "consistent source" of 911 calls in the neighborhood. Police in October arrested several Nouveau patrons on aggravated assault and gun possession charges, among other offenses.

In August, the restaurant was tagged with a racist message spray-painted on the exterior. 

The weekday closure contradicts Nouveau's Facebook page, which currently says the restaurant is "permanently closed." Gilmore said he did not have the option on Facebook to display that the tavern will only be open on weekends. 

A spokesman for the city's law department declined to comment, and Reilly did not immediately return a message seeking comment. 

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