Caffe Graffiti received unanimous support for 36 outdoor patio seats from the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) at Monday night’s meeting.
Luigi DeMarco and his attorney presented an amendment to add outdoor patio service with 36 seats to their existing alcohol license for beer and wine with liqueurs. The amendment is for their recently opened location adjacent to the North End Greenway parks at 64 Cross Street, on the corner of Salem Street.
The City’s Licensing Board has already approved the amendment, subject to meeting with the neighborhood groups. The hours of the patio will be from 8:00 am through 11:00 pm. The license application was for a midnight closing, but the Boston Police asked for an 11:00 pm closing which is consistent with most other patios in the city. Alcohol service will be with food only and the patio will be seasonal from April through October. Neighbor notification was sent to five surrounding buildings, mostly on Salem Street.
A resident asked that the umbrellas for the tables be configured so they don’t overlap with the pedestrian crossing. The tables will be about 3 feet from the Freedom Trail and 6 feet from the existing bollards.
NEWNC voted 9-0 in support of the license amendment for Caffe Graffiti. Council members noted they have not reviewed any other outdoor patio configurations for the Cross Street businesses. Permits for those tables (no alcohol) have been awarded by MassDOT which owns the property.
Meeting minutes can be found at the NEWNC website, www.NEWNCBoston.org.
I’m all for outdoor seating. I do have a problem envisioning this location with 36 seats plus tables plus umbrellas on the patio — and still having plenty of space for pedestrians to walk by. Hope I’m wrong.