Next on Lynn cafe menu: Irish coffee?

LYNN – Walnut Street Cafe would like you to be able to take your coffee with something a bit stronger than cream and sugar.The local coffee shop, which already has a beer and wine license, is seeking to acquire a full liquor license.Proprietor Jim Chalmers, 53, of Lynn, said this option has been brewing for a few years and is driven by what his customers want.?Overall, we have positive feedback from people who live within 200 feet of the cafe,” Chalmers said. “We have a customer base of well over 200 people who have a desire for it.”Chalmers submitted paperwork to City Hall Friday. If the City Council approves, the request will go to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.Ward 7 Councilor Rick Ford said although he was originally against the plan, if the neighbors are for it, he will support it.?The shop has never been in the police report, and there?s never been any trouble there,” Ford said. “He keeps it clean and friendly. It?s nothing personal, but it?s all about the immediate neighbors.”Ford said there are a handful of neighbors up the hill on Cliff Street and on Walnut Street who have expressed opposition.Ford said he supported Chalmers? request for the beer and wine license in March 1998, and that he left a neighborhood meeting at the cafe with the understanding that beer and wine would be the extent of alcohol served.?I?m not mad about it,” Ford said. “He?s a good businessman. I understand from his point of view that things change, and that he?s trying to improve his business. I just want to make sure the close neighbors are OK with it. If you don?t have the support of the five who live around there, that?s what I?m worried about. But if they?re OK with it, then I am, too.”Chalmers said his primary interest is to be able to sell coffee-based alcoholic drinks, such as Irish coffee.His daughter, Megan, the assistant manager, said customers would most likely consume these drinks while playing Keno and listening to musicians during nightly entertainment.She said the license would increase their daily customer total, which now averages between 400 and 600. All servers who are of age would become Training for Intervention Procedures-certified (TIPS), if they are not already. The TIPS course teaches bar staff how to properly approach customers who may have had too much to drink.?My dad wants to expand upon what he has now,” Megan Chalmers said. “I absolutely support it, because I think it would bring a lot of business to the cafe.”Alicia Churchill, arts coordinator at Walnut Street Cafe, said since the music is more jazz- and folk-oriented, there shouldn?t be any noise-related complaints resulting from the petition.?We?re not looking to have ladies night, but just to make coffee drinks with whipped cream on top. We?re also looking to break even with the nightly entertainment,” Churchill said.The current beer and wine license permits the cafe to serve five different types of wine and eight varieties of bottled beer – domestic and imported.