A Morton Grove company found it’s hard to plan a tailgating party when you don’t know what time it’s going to start.
With that in mind, Catering by Michaels reached out to Evanston to ask the City Council to extend its liquor license to allow the company to serve alcohol up to three hours before two Northwestern University football games this October.
The problem, Assistant City Attorney Brian George explained in a memo to the council, is that the Oct. 5 and Oct. 19 games have not yet received a scheduled start time. The original liquor license allows the company to serve starting at 10 a.m., but many college football games start at 11 a.m.
Much to the relief of Catering by Michaels’ chief operating officer Jeff Ware, the council approved the request in a unanimous vote on Aug. 26.
“In a normal stadium it’s no big deal when TV channels don’t decide the start time, but this is a special situation,” Ware said.
Northwestern is rebuilding Ryan Field and has established a temporary stadium at the Lanny and Sharon Martin athletics facility along Lake Michigan on the university’s Evanston campus.
Because the Martin Stadium seats only 12,000 people, Northwestern is providing space for tailgating and watching the game on TV screens for 3,000 more people in a lakeside area just south of the temporary stadium, said Eliza Larson, a spokeswoman for the university.
“Because the temporary stadium is so small and has limited seating, it’s far less than the real Ryan Field,” Ware said. “They knew they would not be able to get everyone who wanted to attend into the game.”
Catering by Michaels is providing food and drinks for folks in the lakeside space, or what is being dubbed “the lakeside game day experience,” Ware said.
“It’s not a music fest, but it’s going to be like a music festival-esque experience,” he said. “There are tons of screens, a stage, music, former Northwestern players. It will make it like a whole fun game day experience for everyone who could not actually get into the stadium.”
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The lakeside space will offer general admission, access to food and beverage concessions, and private suites with catering available, Ware said. Levy concessions will handle all sales inside the temporary stadium, he said.
Catering by Michaels sought the three-hour extension as a “proactive measure” to be ready for whatever time the Oct. 5 and Oct. 19 games begin, Ware said.
“It’s going to depend on the actual kickoff time,” he said Friday. “For example, this week’s game starts at 2:30 pm, so sales will begin at 10:30 a.m., four hours before.”
Catering by Michaels will serve a variety of beverages by Saturday’s event sponsors, including Bud Light, Carbliss and the local craft brewery Sketchbook, which is providing its popular Orange Door IPA, Ware said. Wine and other beverages will also be served, he said.
Times may, of course, be different for the Oct. 5 and Oct. 19 games.
“If it’s going to be a 10 a.m. kickoff, we want to open the gates and let people get a Bloody Mary around 8 a.m.,” Ware said.
As of Friday afternoon, Larson said preparations for Saturday’s game were “going great so far.”
“I was just on the phone doing final touches,” she said. “We are ready to play some football tomorrow. We are pretty excited.”
For Saturday’s game, parking lots, tailgating and the Lakeville lakeside area were scheduled to open at 10:30 a.m., Larson said. Gates to the stadium were scheduled to open at 1 p.m., she said.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said on Friday he was not available for comment.
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