BYOB Is Coming To Allston. Here’s A Few Ideas What This Could Mean
As of this spring, Allston’s restaurants will be eligible to apply for BYOB licenses. We’re thinking of how that might affect our wonderful array of food choices.
Maybe Not Really At All
It’s worth acknowledging for starters that the choice of Allston as a neighborhood to pilot a BYOB program in seems… odd. According to Universal Hub, the city chose “…neighborhoods that don’t have a plethora of drink-serving restaurants…” which seems like an awfully strange way to describe Allston.
Most of Allston’s smaller eating establishments are not particularly conducive for dining-in (and often times that is their charm.) Most of the larger restaurants already have liquor licenses, and the fact that you don’t need full liquor license to sell Soju has helped our Korean restaurant scene thrive. Some restaurants (specifically I’m thinking of Kaju Tofu House which ALWAYS looks busy) might even have intent to keep people from hanging out too long drinking: BYOB creates slower table turnover for no increased revenue.
There’s no obvious Allston restaurant that would be the ideal test spot for BYOB. Maybe Dolphin Bay? I happen to like Dolphin Bay, but is lack of alcohol what is keeping me from frequenting Dolphin Bay? Or is it that there are just so many options that Dolphin Bay isn’t even the second closest Taiwanese restaurant to my apartment?
ID Checking Might Get Heavy
Maybe the more obvious reason why you wouldn’t expect Allston to pilot a BYOB program is the student population. There are over 2,000 college students living in Allston, which seems like the kind of statistic someone would bring up when they’re trying to go full Puritan and restrict BYOB.
Of course, we all know that most underage Allstonians won’t try to sneak drinks at BYOB establishments, mostly because that’s a lot of effort to go through when there’s clearly a party on Ashford St. you could attend. But all it will take is a couple instances of underage imbibing to rally the teetotalers to rescind BYOB, which is why whoever does apply thus spring will have to be ready to prevent this liability.
But if you’re if you’re from out of state or are otherwise baby-faced, expect to be showing a second form of ID a little bit more often.
We’re Going to Brighton!
Now we might be getting somewhere. Unlike Allston, Brighton seems like a place where restaurants are few enough where BYOB could make some real impact.
Personally, I rarely go to Brighton because of course I don’t, but if there was BYOB there and it’s nice weeknight in June… eh why not? Let’s buy a bottle of wine and take a hike to Oak Square or something, fuck it. Eat some authentic Brighton fare. What do they eat there out west there in Brighton, like cream soups and party napkins or something? I don’t know. But if they have some BYOB licenses, I might be interested in finding out.
Bring Your Own Instrument
It might be interesting to see how this BYOB law meshes with the new laws for acoustic performances. If you don’t need a permit for acoustic music and you don’t need a license for the customers to have beer and wine, you can make decent performance space out of any business.
We could get some really unconventional spots with weekly music you can enjoy with a drink. Which is cool. Like alcohol, more options for music is always better.
Who Says They Have to Be Restaurants?
Well, I’m pretty sure the law does, but who says that can’t be tweaked? Most of my regular eating establishments have alcohol currently but there are plenty of places where my day could really be improved by BYOB. Like the laundromat. Whichever Allston laundromat becomes BYOB is the one I’m using from now on, even if it’s the really bad one.
Or what about the T. If you just barley missed the B Line and it’s not rush hour, you should be allowed to crack a beer while you wait. I need a buzz on for the inevitable service delay.
No matter how this BYOB program turns out, one thing is for sure: I will be drinking a lot in 2017.
