Mo's Gets Permit Change for Earlier Weekend Opening Hours

A hearty Irish breakfast is stick-to-the-ribs fare – oatmeal, perhaps, or bangers and mash, or toad in the hole.

Johnny Vassallo, owner of , 10842 W. Blue Mound Rd., can now offer such Gaelic delicacies early on weekends with extended hours, opening at 8 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

That required a change in the pub's conditional use permit, which Mo's received last week on a unanimous vote of the Common Council. However, it came with a proviso: Vassallo must have made every effort to open up planned additional parking for the pub by the end of the year. Should he fail, the extended hours could be revoked.

Vassallo said his customers were clamoring for the change, but given both the restaurant's popularity and slightly rocky history with neighbors, there were bound to be some critics.

One nearby resident went on record in opposition to the change when it came before the Plan Commission because, he said, there were already enough problems with Mo's being open late at night.

Worries about parking, congestion, noise and potential rowdiness even before Mo's opened a few years ago were partly realized when the place became wildly popular as a nightspot. That led Vassallo to take some expensive measures to acquire property for more parking and a larger buffer between the pub and immediate neighbors.

There's no question Mo's has been a great success as a business, but some sore feelings still exist. It seems unlikely, though, that too much trouble would ensue from weekend visitors at dawn 'o day.