Sports bar becomes first in Rolling Meadows to get video gambling
Stadium Sports Club & Pizza, the long-standing bar/restaurant on Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows, has become the first establishment in town to get video gambling machines.
The sports bar, 4015 Algonquin Road, received the city's first Class G1 liquor license for video gambling after unanimous approval from the city council Tuesday. It received its state license Sept. 14 from the Illinois Gaming Board.
State inspectors are expected to take a look at the bar's video gambling area - set aside with a partition wall - by the end of the week, before giving the go-ahead to turn its five machines on.
Owner Vince Bufalino was among the first local business owners to encourage city aldermen earlier this year to pass an ordinance allowing video gambling, in an effort to remain competitive with establishments in other towns that permit the machines.
Five of the city's seven aldermen in April voted to allow video gambling citywide - a shift from previous city councils' rejection of it in 2014 and 2016. But the makeup of the council changed, and one alderman, Laura Majikes, changed her mind on the issue.
The effort also had the backing of the Rolling Meadows Chamber of Commerce, whose executive director, Linda Liles Ballantine, encouraged aldermen Tuesday to approve Stadium's license.
The approval is expected to lead to other Rolling Meadows businesses applying for the same video gambling license, which can be given only to establishments that already have a city liquor license.
Last month, the new owners of Red Apple restaurant, 2121 S. Plum Grove Road, got a Class A2 liquor license from the city. Plans call for the restaurant to extend its hours, remodel and reopen a shuttered bar in the back, and return to the city council for a video gambling license, according to City Manager Barry Krumstok.