XOchimilco restaurant in Ravenswood. (WTTW News)

The owners of Ravenswood restaurant XOchimilco can toast “salud” after voters in a sliver of Chicago’s Northwest Side voted overwhelmingly to overturn a more than century-old ban on liquor sales.

Nearly 85% of voters on Tuesday voted to give businesses the ability to sell booze in that area, according to unofficial results.

XOchimilco’s owners didn’t learn that the section of the 47th Ward’s 9th precinct where their restaurant is located had been dry since 1907 until their liquor license application was rejected.

It was a surprise given that restaurants and shops down the street, which are in a different ward, sell cocktails and alcohol.

Having already renovated the restaurant and taken out additional insurance with the expectation they’d be able to boost their profits by selling tequila, beer and other alcohol, Lucia Herrejon, who co-owns XOchimilco with her husband, began the laborious question of getting the ban overturned.

That required going door to door to get residents’ signatures to put the question on the Nov. 5 ballot, then spreading the word so a majority of residents would vote “no” on keeping the restriction in place.

The area covers parts of Lincoln Square, Ravenswood and North Center, between Montrose, Damen, Lincoln and Sunnyside avenues.

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