The Oak Lawn Village Board unanimously approved liquor and gaming licenses for two businesses Tuesday, growing the number of such establishments.
Wing Snob, 6762 W. 95th St., was approved for a new class video gaming supplemental liquor license.
An area for workers to serve liquor is in the back left corner of the Wing Snob along with a walk-in cooler and kitchen area.
A consumption on-premises liquor license and video gaming license was also approved another restaurant, allowing only liquor sold on the premises to be consumed.
Liquor would not be sold or offered between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Sundays.
The floos plan submitted shows a sit-down restaurant with about seven tables and a patio. The business includes a ramp leading up to the entrance, making it wheelchair accessible.
The applicant of the licenses has applied for a previous liquor license for The Whistle Sports Bar & Grill in Oak Lawn on 95th Street.
Oak Lawn’s video game and liquor businesses have grown in recent years, but not without controversy.
The village in 2019 became the first in Illinois to impose a one-cent tax on each push or play transaction on video gaming terminals.
From December 2024 to December 2025, patrons brought in an income of about $306.7 million on video game terminals, with a net terminal income of almost $28 million from the 53 businesses with gaming in Oak Lawn.
The penny/push tax was legally challenged by a video game trade association that argued the tax was unconstitutional, would be impracticable because of it being costly and technologically complicated. The association also argued the penny/push tax would violate the Video Game Act.
The village fined 13 video game terminal owners in 2020, after they failed to submit forms required by the village’s push tax.
Some portions of the lawsuit were dismissed, but the legal challenge is ongoing, said Coleen Barkmeier, the manager of business licensing and registration and grants administration for Oak Lawn.
Cam’ron Hardy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.