Evanston’s Liquor Control Review Board is scheduled to hold a hearing Friday morning on complaints about underage drinking at The Keg, 810 Grove St.

Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl ordered the bar closed for two days in 2010 after an underage patron who’d been drinking was injured in a fight at the bar.

Tom Migon, who’s owned The Keg for 20 years, told the board then that he requires patrons to show two forms of ID to get in, and he has four or five people checking identifications at the bar as well as security cameras. But he said some fake IDs look so authentic it is very difficult to spot them.

Then mayor Lorraine Morton suspended The Keg’s liquor license for seven days in June 2005 after 22-year-old Robert Gresham of Evanston was shot and killed inside the bar. Antoine Hill, of 1716 Payne St., who was 19 at the time of the incident, was later convicted of shooting Gresham and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Mayor Tisdahl said Wednesday that she didn’t have details regarding recent incidents at The Keg, but the police daily crime bulletin shows at least one incident in December in which an 18-year-old from Northfield was arrested at the bar and charged with having a fake ID.

Friday’s hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the Aldermanic Library at the Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.

Bill Smith is the editor and publisher of Evanston Now.

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4 Comments

  1. People are drinking at the Keg?

    Every single time I go by the Keg, no matter time of day, and if they are even open, I see approximately two people at the bar and the rest of it vacant.

    Do people frequent the keg?  I often wonder how they can possibly stay open.

  2. Question

    Does anyone find it weird that there's NEVER anyone in the Keg?  Perhaps they get some late night, weekend business, but I walk past there all the time and comment that it's always empty.  How do they stay open? 

  3. I go a little early with my

    I go a little early with my wife on the college nights sometimes (we leave when it starts to get too busy), but I rarely see kids that appear to be under 21. I mean it's a college bar so there are bound to be some that get in but the bouncers seem pretty on top of it so I don't know… It would be a travesty if it was shut down.

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