#activateBOS: Recap of Liquor Licenses for the week of 9.14.16 (Hearing 9.14.16 & 9.15.16)
Follow Epicenter Community as we continue to monitor legislature. Keep up with us on Twitter under the hashtags #liftthecap & #activateBOS
New Business:
On September 1st, 25 new liquor licenses became available for restaurants in the city of Boston- 5 unrestricted licenses which restaurants can sell or pledge to banks for capital and 20 restricted licenses, which must be returned to the board if the restaurant ever moves out of Boston or shuts down.
On Wednesday, 9.14.2016:
- Sweet Rice, Inc dba Sweet Rice located at 187 Main St, Charlestown MA applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License.
- Antico Forno, Inc dba Antico Forno located at 93–95 Salem St, Boston MA (North End) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Terramia, Inc dba Terramia Ristorante located at 98 Salem St, Boston MA (North End), applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Crudo North End LLC dba Crudo located at 78–80 Salem St, Boston MA (Northend) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Bennington1004 LLC dba Renegade’s Pub to be located at 1004 Bennington St, Boston MA (East Boston) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Barbro Enterprises LLC dba The Retreat to be located at 303 Sumner St, East Boston MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- 24 New Street Restaurant LLC to be located at 6–26 New St, East Boston MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Kamakura, LLC dba Kamakura located at 150 State St, Boston MA (Downtown) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Minnellie LLC dba Loui Loui located at 160 Brighton Ave, Allston MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Hampshire House Corporation dba 75 on Seaport Square located at 60 Seaport Bl, Boston MA (Seaport Area) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Wahlburgers South Bay Company LLC dba Wahlburgers to be located at 9 District Ave, Dorchester MA applied for CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Schiaffo, Inc dba Carmelina’s located at 124 Salem St, Boston MA (North End) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Beauport Hospitality, LLC to be located at 94–96 Guest St, Brighton MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Unique Concepts LLC dba Anoushella located at 35 W Newton St, Boston MA (South End), applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Bey Group, LLC dba Mida located at 782 Tremont St, Roxbury MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Third Rail, LLC dba Third Rail to be located at 4228–4230 Washington St, Roslindale MA, applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
- Nicomar, Inc dba Strega located at 379–381 Hanover St, Boston MA (North End) applied for a CV 7 Day All Alcohol License
On Thursday, 9.15.2016, the board deferred all liquor license applications.
Old Business:
There is no new business for this week. We are still waiting on updates about the Briar Hospitality Group and the motives behind the group plediging 7 of their unrestricted liquor licenses to Santander bank to be put in a trust fund for the grandchildren of the head of the group.
Thoughts on This Week’s Applications:
Epicenter was really hoping that Mida, a black owned and operated restaurant, would take away one of the unrestricted licenses but unfortunately, the board deferred their decisions due to the high number of applications.
The number of applications compared to the number of liquor licenses available is staggering and only serves as reminder to the reason why we need to #liftthecap- the supply and demand are so disparate in the city of Boston and this is what drives the hidden economy surrounding liquor licenses. Furthermore, many of the restaurants, such as Wahlburgers for example, are still under construction and don’t have forecasted operating dates until the Spring of 2017. We understand taking pre-emptive action in the interest of being prepared but as someone pointed out during the hearing, to give liquor licenses to these businesses who won’t be operating till next year would be unfair considering the low number of licenses available and the high number of applicants.
Antico Forno & Terramia Ristorante, both owned by Carla Gomes, were also seeking unrestricted liquor licenses (both restaurants are in the North End). Gomes had a multitude of people come out to support these restaurants obtaining one of the licenses- residents cited Gomes as a caring, involved participant in the North End community. Her attorney also pointed out that only 2 restaurants on Salem St have liquor licenses while there are 15 liquor licenses on neighboring Hanover St. However, Epicenter would like to point out that it seems a little unfair that one owner can apply for an unrestricted liquor license through multiple entities, giving them a greater chance of obtaining one of these coveted licenses. Not to mention, the North End is already saturated with liquor licenses while Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan & East Boston remain proverbial liquor license deserts.
Tito Jackson of the Boston City Council, who spoke on behalf of Mida obtaining one of the unrestricted licenses, made excellent points about why the 75 additional licenses became available- Ayanna Pressley meant for some these licenses to help disenfranchised restaurant owners in underserved areas like Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan, areas that have next to no restaurants with unrestricted liquor licenses. None of the unrestricted liquor licenses this year have gone to restaurants in these areas.
Since the board deferred, we won’t know where or who these liquor licenses will go to quite yet. As always, Epicenter will be at the hearing next week in case any decisions are made on the applications.
As noted in weeks past, there is an amendment to language that was put before the state to include Boston in the Governor’s previous bill to lift the cap on the number of liquor licenses available to perspective restaurant owners in the state.
We encourage all of you to reach out to your city and state reps in order to encourage them to vote to lift the cap on the regulatory number of licenses within the city.
To find your city councilors: https://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/councillors/
To find your state representatives: https://malegislature.gov/People/CityList
For further reading:
