The North Aurora Village Board recently approved a supplemental entertainment class liquor license for Mariscos El Catrin Del Mar, a Mexican restaurant that opened in October at 19 S. Randall Road in the village.
According to documentation provided by the village, the Village Board approved an ordinance increasing the number of Class A liquor licenses for Mariscos El Catrin Del Mar back on Aug. 4, 2025, and also passed a resolution that night approving a temporary, conditional 60-day supplemental entertainment liquor license for the restaurant.
That liquor license allows live, amplified entertainment provided by musicians, vocalists, DJs, comedians and other acts, village officials said.
Village Administrator Steve Bosco said the village has two supplemental licenses including “one for outdoor eating and the other is for entertainment,” both of which have now been granted for the restaurant.
“The reason you do this is because it gives the board an opportunity to say like, if you’re a restaurant and you want to have liquor and food, that’s great,” he said. “But if you want to go one step forward and have live music or something in a neighborhood it gives them the opportunity to say, you can still be a restaurant and serve liquor but you can’t have live bands or things that might disturb the surrounding businesses or neighborhood.”
Bosco said there are now only three such entertainment licenses issued in the village including one for a local brewery and another for “an event space that is rented for parties and such.”
In October, the village formally issued a temporary, conditional supplemental license that allowed for a 60-day trail period for the restaurant, “in order for the license applicant to demonstrate the ability to operate devoid of any distinguishably excessive noise, as confirmed by village personnel,” officials said.
Bosco said there were two anonymous complaints during that time period and that in both cases, “the police went out there and verified that they didn’t hear music that was excessive.”
“The police, proactively, went out there several times during that 60-day window and they also conducted their own assessments,” Bosco said.
He said after the 60-day window ended “the board looked at it and concluded that they didn’t have any concerns,” he said.
Denise Gomez, who serves as a manager at the restaurant, spoke the day after the board approved the new license earlier this month and noted it would absolutely help the restaurant and its amount of foot traffic, “especially on the weekends.”
“Having live entertainment obviously brings more people in,” Gomez said. “We can get a crowd of maybe 150 more people on average when we have someone performing. We are looking forward to having good attendance here.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.