After almost two years of applications and denials, the Pop-Up Chicken restaurant in Peoria's Warehouse District is getting a liquor license.
Owner Aaron Francis confirmed Wednesday that he received his acceptance letter from Mayor Rita Ali’s office this week.
“It was a long battle to obtain it, but now that we have the liquor license, I believe Pop-Up is going to completely thrive in the Warehouse District,” said Francis, who also operates a Pop-Up location in Bloomington.
Francis’ latest liquor license application gained site approval from the city council in January through a consent agenda vote. That followed a unanimous recommendation from the liquor commission.
It was the third time the business received site approval since December 2024, only to be denied a license by Ali in her role as liquor vommissioner. The second attempt came as part of a shared operations when Shayla Talley sought a liquor license at the adjacent Love Shack.
Francis said that while lunch service has been strong at Pop-Up Chicken, they’ve struggled to attract customers during the dinner hours.
“Peorians, they like to have fun and drink a little at night, and we're located in a place where the city is trying to get it up and up and running in the Warehouse District,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to get people down there unless you have alcohol to drink at night.
“Now, I'm going to be able to fully go through with my business plan two years later and operate at 100 percent.”
Francis said now that he has city approval, he can apply for a license from the state. He said the turnaround time to receive the license is typically within 48 hours.
