Please be advised that a public meeting has been scheduled for Monday January 25th, 2016 at 6:00pm at the Nazzaro Community Center (30 North Bennet Street). The following restaurants are requesting upgrades of malt wine and cordials licenses to all alcoholic beverages licenses. The agenda is as follows:
1. 6:00pm Cantina Italiana
346 Hanover Street
2. 6:20pm Mare Oyster Bar
3 Mechanic Street
3. 6:40pm Trattoria di Monica
67 Prince Street
4. 7:10pm Ducali Pizzeria
289 Causeway Street
5. 7:30pm Strega Ristorante
379 Hanover Street
6. 7:50pm Antico Forno
93 Salem Street
(Subsequent transfer of malt wine and cordials license to Ragula Inc. 178 Salem Street)
7. 8:10pm Carmelina’s
307 Hanover Street
Several North End restaurants presented their applications for one of the new all-alcohol licenses to the North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) view video footage of their presentations and read more background on the proposals.
If you have any questions, please contact: Maria Lanza, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services Liaison at maria.lanza@boston.gov or call at (617) 635-4987.
Every restaurant on this list is Grade A. All are owned by original north end residents/families. Many of these owners also give back to the community whether it be donations to North End Against Drugs, North End Athletic Association, Religious Societies, or other charitable events/groups which our neighborhood so great! I can feel secure knowing that these establishments will handle a full liquor license responsibly. Good Luck guys!
Before Antici Forno transfers a license to the Cafe on Salem Street- a real plan about how the cafe will be useful to local residents needs to be presented. As of now, the hours are short and undependable. The cafe only serves tourists looking for a coffee or maybe sandwich. I haven’t heard plans to expand their offerings so I don’t think they need an alcohol license.
Jennifer. You should try to go to the abutters’ meeting for the 7:50 PM presentation by Antico Forno and ask the question there. You have a valid point. That is the purpose of the meeting with neighbors outside of NEWRA and NEWNC
The money is in Liquor, no matter which way you twist & turn it. I am coming to the painful conclusion,
it doesn’t matter how many meetings one goes to, the City calls all the shorts, and they will never
refuse these restaurants because they want the MONEY. The North End is one of the biggest Tourist
Traps & the City knows it, and they intend to CASH IN. There are no Brain Surgeons required here.
To Jennifer and Joyce,
In case you may not know, I have been in the restaurant business for 23 years without ever having a violation against me. I did not take over the cafe to cater only to tourist. I wanted the cafe to be a place for residents to come and have breakfast and/or lunch. The business can’t sustain itself solely depending on the Tourist Season which is a very short season. We still have expenditures such as rent, insurance, utilities, food cost & payroll.
After being in operation for 5 years, we’ve come to the realization we need to tap into our neighborhood residents in order to maintain the business. As you are all well aware being able to offer a beer or a glass of wine with lunch is more appealing to most diners than not. Recently, Theo’s was approved for a beer and wine license and if he gets it plans on staying open until 11 PM and he is only a short block away from the cafe. Where was the opposition for Theo’s to be approved for a beer and wine license? It seems to me that there is a bit of prejudice going around when it comes to my cafe. My hours will not change at the cafe. I will still only stay open until 6 PM. Many people have come in and asked for a cold beer or glass of wine and I had to refuse them. We need to keep the pace with other restaurants in order to stay in business otherwise it will not be worth keeping the cafe open. I have been in front of this board before with a request for a beer and wine license and received opposition due to the fact as the first owner had late night hours and people made lots of noise outside the cafe. Also, another issue was complaints of patrons urinating in nearby buildings. I do not feel I should be punished for previous owners mistakes. Furthermore, the cafe also has a bathroom that customers are able to use, so there isn’t any need for my customers to be urinating in buildings.
The North End has become a Mecca for lunch spots, dinner and the like and we need to be competitive to maintain our business. We will as always continue to be a good neighbor as we have been for the last 23 years.
Sincerely,
Carla Agrippino Gomes
I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want them to upgrade & be able to serve. While I’m not a fan of all the restaurants on the list, I don’t see why someone would oppose this.
Now what I’d really like to see a public meeting about is bringing Happy Hour back.
Carla, why did you sell the old license at the cafe? Also, what changes do you plan to make to service local residents. I’ve gone in for my child to use the restroom and been turned away. I used to take my kids in after school for a snack but then the cafe started closing at 3. You are not responsible for the old owners but need a plan for now that makes beer and wine necessary. Since there is no kitchen on site at the Cafe and a limited menu to go with beer and wine, this doesn’t make sense to me as your establishment stands right now. The comparison to Theos and what is offered to local residents by that establishment and yours does not stand.
Jennifer, I did not sell the old license at the cafe. The cafe was previously owned by my brother Stephen and he had sold the license long before I had any intention of buying the cafe.
Furthermore, I close at 3:30 from December 15 to March 15 because it slows down throughout the winter months and that is exactly why I would like to try to cater my business to residents so I will not have to shut down any earlier. The reason we had to refuse “non customers” going in to use the restrooms is due to people in the past clogging our toilets and then having to constantly pay for a plumber to come in and fix it. Therefore a decision had to be made to prevent this from occurring. It is not a decision I like to make but I could no longer incur the cost of plumbing. Restrooms are available for patrons.
Also, there does not have to be a kitchen on site to serve beer and wine. Many people come in on a hot summer day and have a sandwich and would like to enjoy a cold beer. I will be changing the menu to offer more variety for lunch. You may not feel the need for beer/wine but diners often request it…its a personal choice whether a diner wants a drink or not with lunch. As a business owner I’d like to be able to offer the choice.
In comparison to Theo’s there was never a mention of being refused because I did not have a kitchen. When I applied for the license previously, I was denied because of issues with previous owners who stayed open late and apparently had crowds of people making noise outside disrupting the neighbors. My understanding is if Theo’s gets a license (which he should in my opinion) he will also extend his hours to 11 PM closing.
I do not understand how a beer/wine license would hurt the area with a 6 PM closing? However, it would enhance my business for me to stay in business.
I am not a beer or wine drinker, I can settle for a cordial, but I must admit, I prefer HARD LIQUOR.
I have had conversations with people in the business that have worked in various establishments as
bartenders, including the NO. End . One bartender/manager told me the last place he worked, which was in the State House vicinity, on a
Saturday Night, alone, he brought in $130,000 with Food & a Full Liquor License & then said to me,
imagine what the North End Restaurants are taking in.
There are also No.End Restaurant Owners that NEVER want a Full Liquor Licenses because they don’t
want to deal with the Drunks. Hard Liquor is basically
80 Proof vs. 40 Proof, making Hard Liquor much more intoxicating on one’s body & mind.
I have seen people drink wine, without any changes, but with Hard Liquor it was amazing to see the
transformation . There are no starving restaurants in the No. End, the bottom line is
they want MORE. The average Martini in the North End is $12-$15 and they don’t want to give
this up. Full liquor licenses should be based on the reputation of the restaurant, and they should
also be TAKEN AWAY when there are reoccurring problems, but this is not the case, thanks to
the CITY, they want the REVENUE more than anyone.
This is an extremely small neighborhood, smothered with over 100 restaurants, all making lots of
money, and only “1” restaurant had the consideration for Residents and they put a sign outside
of their Restaurant, to have consideration for Residents. All restaurants should do the same,
but will they, I doubt it, because the CITY doesn’t make it MANDATORY.
Yes, do I agree there are people coming from Faneuil Hall and No. Station, absolutely, but don’t ever
kid yourself and say it is not taking place in our Neighborhood. The screaming, yelling, fist fighting
has taken place right here in our Neighborhood Bars & Restaurants. We are not N.Y.C , and we
will never be. N.Y.C Police do not take the crap our Boston Police do. We have 1 or 2 Police on the
streets,
& 1 Patrol Car trying to manage a Neighborhood with over 100 restaurants, what a JOKE.
N.Y.C. has Police Present everywhere there are Tourist and lots of People, just in the Theater
District alone. I know Boston is not as big of a city, but we do NOT have the Police Coverage
like N.Y.C. has. I hope the City takes all these things into consideration when they are handing
out these liquor licenses.