Liquor-license violation closes Phoenix's Chez Nous nightclub

Chez Nouz. (Credit: David Kadlubowski/azcentral.com)

Chez Nous, the beloved Phoenix soul and funk nightspot that originally opened in 1963, has closed.

The club on Grand Avenue was closed in February when it violated state liquor law by selling alcohol without a license.

A Valley icon: At its original location on Indian School Road and Seventh Avenue, live music and cheap drinks created a soul-soaked throwback charm.

Chez Nous was called one of the country's coolest bars in such publications as Rolling Stone and Elle. It earned countless local “best of” awards and still is regularly mentioned in the same breath as venerable steak-and-martini joint Durant's. In 2007, the tiny bar moved to Grand Avenue.

Downtown resident and Chez Nous regular Feliciano Vera, 32, called the bar an icon, an institution, and spoke reverentially of its darkness, its live music and its diverse crowd.

“It was a great place to go listen to music and chill with a crowd that totally ranged … from guys leaving the Capitol building to neighborhood folks to people just looking to have a night on the town,” he said.

Liquor license woes: On Feb. 12, an investigator with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control ordered and was served a Bud Light, according to Lee Hill, a spokeswoman for the department. Then a supervisor did a routine inspection to make sure there were no other violations. He informed the bartender that the bar was in violation of selling without a license, which had expired Jan. 31, and the bar was closed.

Amina Uben is listed as the owner of the bar, which she bought in 2001, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission. State officials say she also owns the liquor license. However, the former Phoenix resident says she sold both in December and doesn't know why the paperwork has not been filed.

Uben referred to her years owning the bar as a labor of love, but she moved to Austin, Texas, last winter to care for a sick family member.

“The very best thing that could happen for everyone all-around is that a buyer comes forward to purchase the business or the property and decides to keep the business running there,” she said. “My life is (in Austin) now.”

Hill confirmed that Uben recently paid the fines and fees to reinstate the liquor license.

Chez Nous history: The original Chez Nous was built by Maureen and Andy Womack. The couple ran the bar until the early '70s, when Andy decided to get out of the business.

A series of owners took over the bar and ran it successfully until 2001, when the lot's owner reached an agreement to have an Osco drugstore built on the site.

Citizen protests and petitions followed. During this time, Uben, who was then a regular, bought the bar because she thought she could save it by moving it or by striking her own deal with the drugstore. The city of Phoenix eventually sided with the protestors and stopped the deal from going through.

But in 2007, British grocery chain Tesco wanted the site for a Fresh & Easy. This time the deal went through, and on New Year's Eve 2007, Uben opened the bar in its new location.