A proposed wine bar restaurant that would’ve taken up a vacant space just west of downtown Manteno is likely not going to materialize.

At Monday’s Manteno Village Board meeting trustees voted 3-2 to deny the liquor license request that also included a gaming provision.

Trustees CJ Boudreau, Todd Crockett and Joel Gesky voted against, while trustees Mike Barry and Peggy Vaughn voted in favor of the measure. Trustee Annette Zimbelman was absent due to illness.

Barry voiced frustration that the board has discussed attracting more businesses to the village, but then it votes against someone who wants to bring a restaurant because it doesn’t want gaming.

“The gaming is one-third revenue to the village,” he said. “It’s free money. So now we’ve lost a business, a person that wants to invest into a building that sat vacant for two years, because we don’t want gaming.

“But then we talk about how we need revenue sources coming into the village, and we have a person that wants to come and open up a nice facility into the town, and we tell them ‘no.’ It just baffles my mind.”

Taho Shuaipaj, who owns several Ace & Vine wine bars, including one in New Lenox that opened in 2025, wanted to open a location at a former Midland (Homestar) Bank location where Section Line Road and Division Street intersect. The building has undergone extensive renovation by a local builder.

Shuaipaj said after the meeting he wouldn’t open the bar without the gaming license. It was the fourth time he was seeking the liquor license with gaming.

Boudreau said he went to New Lenox to check out what Ace & Vine was like, and he said he saw it as a “gaming-centric” establishment.

“I walked in and it is a gaming place that has a wine bar,” he said. “I went and asked, I said, ‘Do you have a food menu?’ They said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Do you have a bar menu?’ They said, ‘Everything is here; you’ve just got to tell me what you want.’”

Boudreau added there are already three gaming-centric establishments in Manteno and there are about 75 gaming machines throughout the village. He said that was enough for a village of Manteno’s size.

“We want sustainable businesses that don’t rely on gaming alone,” he said.

The Ace & Vine location in Manteno would also have small food items such as a cheese platter, smoked salmon tartare, and marinated olives and almonds, as well as truffle mac & cheese among other items and desserts.

Vaughn said she was in favor because someone is wanting to put a business in a location that has sat empty for two years.

“And I just think that if he doesn’t put signs out or make it look like Las Vegas, what is the harm?” she said.

Gesky said he would be in favor of possibly granting a gaming license after the restaurant was up and running for six months.

“My support would be there if it’s a viable business, but just for a gaming cafe, I’m not in favor,” he said.

That’s similar to what the board unanimously approved earlier in the meeting for TruGolf Links at 450 S. Spruce St. TruGolf is a year-round facility with indoor golf simulators, and it has been open for several months. The board approved a liquor license with no video gaming provision.

Mayor Annette LaMore said she was disappointed the board can’t work together on things.

“I know the people in Manteno expect a lot out of us,” she said. “They want us to do what’s best for the people. So sometimes we have to pick and choose our battles, and pick and choose what’s the most important thing. I don’t like to see an empty building that just got remodeled sitting there vacant.

“It would have been wonderful to fill it up. I don’t know what you think, what kind of business you think would want to come there, but this would have been an upscale wine bar that does serve food.”