People stopping at Sowams Variety in Barrington to purchase an ice cream cone or coffee and a sandwich will now be able to enjoy their food at some tables inside the store.

The owners of the Sowams Road convenience store were granted a special use permit for "restaurant without alcoholic beverages" during a recent zoning board meeting. 

Check out the store's Facebook page.

Muhanad Al Chalabi, one of the store's owners, said there will be a couple of small tables with a total of eight chairs located inside the shop. 

The indoor seating will complement a wide variety of items sold at the convenience store. In addition to normal store staples such as milk, bread and ice, Sowams Variety also offers sandwiches, slushy drinks and coffee. 

Mr. Al Chalabi said he anticipates the tables will be used by children enjoying Slush Puppies or ice cream cones and other folks stopping in for a cup of coffee or grabbing a quick lunch. 

"It will be nice to have the tables here," said Mr. Al Chalabi.

The application for the indoor seating was reportedly met with some resistance by the zoning board. Mr. Al Chalabi said "the board wanted to shoot it down, but a lot of people at the meeting said they wanted it." In the past, a store located at the Kent Street shopping plaza had been granted a permit to have indoor dining.

Mr. Al Chalabi said he had also initially requested permission to have a picnic table outside the store, but that request was tabled until a future meeting. 

Mr. Al Chalabi said the plans that he had shared with the zoning board did not include continuous curbing separating the picnic table from the parking area, so he will have to re-apply for that at a future date.

The Sowams Variety owner said other businesses in Barrington — he named an ice cream shop — have outdoor picnic tables without curbing separating them from vehicle parking.