Moher pub closes, was first to sell liquor in Edgebrook in decades

by BRIAN NADIG

The first liquor establishment to open in Downtown Edgebrook following a 2003 referendum in which part of the commercial district was voted “wet” recently closed, but a new restaurant and bar is slated to open there.

A week before Moher Public House, 5310 W. Devon Ave., opened in 2005, a sign in its window announced that the “end of prohibition” was coming to Edgebrook.

Two years earlier voters had lifted a prohibition on liquor sales which had existed in the Devon-Central commercial district since April 1, 1947. A portion of the district remains “dry.”

Since Moher opened, other businesses in the area have received licenses to serve alcohol or to sell packaged liquor items, including Mia Figlia restaurant, 5304 W. Devon Ave., and Happy Foods grocery store, 6415 N. Central Ave.

For decades the issue of liquor sales in Edgberook had been considered a taboo subject, but in the early 2000s some residents campaigned for the opening of more restaurants in the area and felt that prospective businesses would shy away from Edgebrook unless they could serve liquor inside their restaurant.

The new restaurant planned for Moher’s space reportedly is City Edge, which will feature salads, sandwiches and barbecue items.

Edgebrook Chamber of Commerce executive director Andrea Simon said that the owners live in the Edgebrook area and have informed the chamber that the restaurant should open this fall.