good morning thank you all for joining we will get started in just a moment we'll just uh give a few moments for folks to clear the waiting room as a reminder when you are entering from the waiting room please do remain on mute unless or until you are appearing
or providing testimony before the board good morning this is a hearing before the licensing board for the city of Boston today is Wednesday April 2nd 2025 today's hearing is being held pursuant to temporary amendments to the open meeting law that is what allows us to meet virtually today's hearing is being
recorded and will be posted to the city of Boston's website we are joined this morning by Commissioner Liam Curran and Commissioner Kiana Saxon please ensure that your audio and visuals are working properly if you will be presenting or providing testimony before the board we'll call each item in
the order that it appears on this morning's agenda i will then ask who is present on behalf of the applicant you'll make a brief presentation regarding your proposal followed by questions by the commissioners following questions there will be an opportunity for testimony beginning with elected officials or
their representatives for members of the general public wishing to provide testimony please limit your testimony to two minutes and please state your name address and affiliation if any begin with the first item on this morning's agenda calling item number one Shack Foods of Back Bay LLC located at 50B
Dalton Street holder of a common victer 7-day allcoholic beverages license has petitioned to change the DBA of the licensed business to Elarco attorney Dennis Quilty attorney Quilty good morning Attorney Green good morning commissioners i'm Dennis Quilty attorney
representing the Lency Shack Foods and the application as suggested is simply to change the DBA from Somershack at this location where it's been for many years to Elbarco uh I have with me this morning Kina Corupine and Amanda Allen
from the uh MA management alliance group company uh and we're happy to answer any of your questions uh thank you Attorney Quilty i have no questions thank you thank you none for me thank you i think are there any individuals who would like to
testify on this matter seeing none the board will take this matter under adisement thank you for being with us this morning thank you thank you calling items 2 three four and five as these are related entities covering the same transactional matter uh
BBRGTR LLC uh doing business as Abe and Louise located at 777 to 793 Boilson Street item three BBRGTR LLC doing business as Atlantic Fish Company at 761 Boilson Street item four BBRG Newbury TR LLC
doing business as Joe's American Bar and Grill at 26 Exit Street and item five BBRG Waterfront TRLC doing business as Joe's American Bar and Grill located at 100 Atlantic A holder of four common viter 7-day all alcoholic beverages licenses have petitioned for a change of
LLC manager who is present on behalf of these licences hi I'm attorney Marggo Gillis from McDermott Quilty Miller and Hanley and I'm here on behalf of the lences thank you attorney Green and thank you for taking all of these together good morning madame chair and commissioners
um as you heard these are identical requests for each of the four locations this is a change of LLC manager at the Lency and parent level thomas Youth is being removed as one of the LLC managers other than that there are no changes in the day-to-day operations and no change
in ownership i'm happy to answer any questions you may have uh thank you Attorney Gillis i have no questions none for me thank you thank you very much we'll just see if there are any individuals with us who would like to testify on any of these items two
through five seeing none the board will take this under advisement thank you very much thanks calling item number six Boston Amichi Group Inc doing business as PA on Porter located at 103 Porter Street in East Boston holder of a common or 7-day
allcoholic beverages license has petitioned to pledge the license and inventory to Pentucket Bank who is present on behalf of the applicant good morning everyone uh Dan Godderroy here attorney for the applicant uh thank you all for your time this morning um we
are requesting an amendment of pledge to a license that is currently in place for Boston Amichi Group it was previously pledged to the prior owner of the property that this restaurant is held in Plaza on Porter and East Boston uh my clients purchased this property in
February of this year and we are requesting an amendment of pledge uh from the prior owner to now the serer of my client's uh loan which is Pentucket Bank uh thank you attorney Godroy i have no questions
none for me thank you thank you very much for that explanation attorney Goday are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter the board will take this under adisement as well thank you very much thank you everyone calling item number seven Yanero
Supermarket Inc located at 260 East 8th Street in South Boston holder of a retail package store all alcoholic beverages license has petitioned for a change of officer directors and secondly has petitioned for a change of stock interest who is present on behalf of the applicant
hi good morning uh my name is Maxiel Guerrero i will see manager for the applicant um as the app suggested we are just looking to do a change of officer um from Mary de Jesus to Franklin Guerrero uh no other changes to the
operation of the business or the hours okay thank you Miss Guerrero uh I don't Yeah I have no questions thank you none for me thank you thank you thank you Miss Guerrero are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter board will take this under
adisement as well thank you very much for being with us this morning calling item number eight bisque LLC doing business as Zorrito located at 20 to 26 Charles Street holder of a common virtual 7-day wines and malt beverages with Lor's license has petitioned for a change of ownership
interest uh attorney Tom Miller attorney Miller good morning commissioners Saxon and Curran Secretary Green Tom Miller from McDermotty Miller and Hanley on behalf of the Lency Bisque LLC as Secretary Green said the application before use for a change of beneficial
interest uh the Lency has taken on investors and as such has sold sold off about 7 and a half% of the interest and with the remaining 93 and a half being retained by uh its original ownership there will be no changes to the day-to-day operations of the lency and it will continue to be operated in a
manner in which the board has come to expect and the community has come to enjoy uh we want to thank you for hearing this application today and be happy to answer any questions you may have uh thank you for that explanation Attorney Miller i have no questions none from me thank you thank you are there
any individuals who would like to testify on this matter board will take this under advisement thank you thank you calling item number nine Rock Bottom Group LLC doing business as Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery located at 115 Stewart Street holder of a common
fiction or 7-day all alcoholic beverages license has petitioned for a change of ownership interest and has also petitioned for a change of LLC manager who's present on behalf of the applicant uh good morning Attorney Green and commissioners tyler Hensler from Upton Canel and Develin for Rock Bottom Group
LLC uh Rock Bottom Group is currently owned uh by its 100% sole LLC member uh and parent company Craft Brewery Group LLC and Craft Brewery Group LLC has been
purchased by KC Brewery Holdings so we're therefore seeking to file a change of beneficial interest uh for the parent company and and a change of LLC manager for the applicant uh to Michael Kelly um nothing operational will change at Rock
Bottom Brewery uh they're even keeping the same manager of record so there'll be continuity um and that should be all the changes so uh happy to take any questions thank you for the explanation Attorney Heller i have no questions no questions
from me thank you thank you very much are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter the board will take this under advisement thank you very much thank you calling item number 1022 Friends Inc located at 4 Liberty Square holder of a
common pitch or 7-day all alcoholic beverages license has petitioned to transfer the license and the location from the above to Thompson Fields Pie Company LLC doing business as Sally's Pizza located at 30 Thompson Place premise consists of 5,731 square feet of
restaurant space with a bar kitchen pizza kitchen prep space cooler office and bathrooms all located on the ground floor with additional storage space in the basement seated occupancy for about 144 customers including 26 seats at the bar area three entrances and three exits
no outdoor seating eric Gelfond manager 11 p.m closing hour attorney Adam Barnoski attorney Barnoski thank you Attorney Green good morning Commissioners Kernan Saxon i'm Adam Barnoski with an address of 255 State Street in Boston i'm an attorney on behalf of the applicant Thompson Fields
Pie Company LLC with me is Eric Gelfond he is the head of development for the applicant and proposed manager of record we are here regarding a section 12 all alcoholic beverage license transfer for a new Sally of Pizza at 30 Thompson Place the license is being transferred
from 222 which was previously located at Fort Liberty Square in the financial district and uh which is no longer in operation the Thompson Place location will be the first Sally's a pizza in Boston sally's is a popular restaurant originally founded in New Haven in 1938
this will be the second location in Massachusetts with another location currently operating in Wubber the property is as I mentioned it's located at 30 Thompson Place midway between Congress Street and Seeport Boulevard filling in a longtime vacant space on the first floor of a sixstory commercial
building it consists of approximately 5,700 square ft with a main dining area bar kitchen office and storage on the ground floor as well as storage in the basement there will be seating for 144 uh this is a full service restaurant they'll be open seven days a week 11:00
am to 11 pm kitchen closes around 10 pm each night they'll have a lunch and dinner service it's food focused it's a sit-down restaurant there will be an array of beer wine and cocktail options pending the approval of the application before you um in addition to the dining
options there uh is the ability for customers to take out orders to go there is no delivery or third-party delivery available at this location and there will be no entertainment beyond background music at or below a conversational level as I mentioned Mr
gelfon is a post manager of record he is the VP of development and construction for the company he'll be responsible for the development of this location and will be on site 40 hours a week he has extensive experience in the restaurant industry working in in his current development role with Sally's for over
five years and before that with development roles at Barteka restaurant group of pen and trrimark uh he's going to help with the onboarding hiring and and opening of this location uh and we anticipate that we will be back before
this board sometime in the summer once a permanent general manager is hired for the location uh and then briefly because this is a a a newly licensed location I want to address public need uh the location has been vacant for uh a number
of years and while there are an abundance of licensed uh premises on Seapport and on Congress uh there really is a lack of of licensed establishments on on this stretch of Thompson there's you know one I think in the immediate vicinity that I can think of and as this
building fills in and other fills in in the area it'll be nice to have an amenity for for the location it'll have to activate activate economic activity in the neighborhood um as far as public meeting the operator's reputation you know this is a well-known establishment
it's wellrun it has a long long-standing operational uh reputation for quality uh in addition to the Wuburn uh location they do have other locations in Connecticut uh there have been no issues with local or state licensing authorities at those other locations uh
we've conducted extensive community process met with LNS uh fourpoint neighborhood association and the abutters in anticipation and there seems to be broad support for the concept and with that happy to answer any questions thank you
uh thank you attorney Barnoski uh Mr gelfond yes i'm just going to go through the um our standard manager of record uh questions uh are you a US citizen i am are you currently a resident of
Massachusetts i am out in need okay um are you familiar with the rules and regulations of this board the ABC and the laws of the Commonwealth as they pertain to the sale and service of alcohol yes I am okay and uh your attorney addressed your experience so I
think that's all I have for you and I have no other questions at the moment maybe after comments no additional questions thank you great thank you are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter beginning with elected officials or their representatives
yes members of the board Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services this time the mayor is obser to defer to the judge from this board some background information community process ons had brought in a Butters meeting on February 6th uh where questions about the proposal were asked by residents uh
Butters were supportive of the commitment that the applicant made to have no third party delivery services offered at the premise uh they went on to meet with the Fort Point Neighborhood Association which I understand to be uh officially a non-oposition uh they were supportive of the concept in general
with the express caveat the proponent work with owners of the private way to establish uh a zone where there's uh 15-minute pickup and drop off um outside uh there was concerns about uh potentially blocking uh the oneway street uh with that we defer to the
board thank you yes thank you Attorney Green and members of the board my name is Cindy i'm from Councelor Flynn's office councelor Flynn would like to go on record and support based on a good community process and feedback from neighbors he respectfully requests the proponent continue to work closely with the Four Point neighborhood
association and other neighbors on double parking on Thompson Street as well as congestion public safety and quality of life issues thank you thank you very much i do see a hand raised from Tom Ready uh you may please provide your testimony thanks Attorney Green tom ready from the Four Point
Neighborhood Association um I I confirm everything that's been said before us thompson Place is a little unique it's a one-way street a private way open for public use um so the city of Boston has no um control over the curb if you would
um at the same time within the last the next 12 months forthcoming um Sleeper Street will be converted from two-way to one way so uh the only way to get from West Broadway Fort Point into Seapport um will um be two streets this street and
um Boston Warf Road so we've had conversations um with Attorney Barnoski Adam and um we just ask that they continue to work with us as we uh try to ensure that um should patrons uh come and pick pizza up and it's a it's a
pizza place and we would expect that that some of their business would um be pick up that uh we give those patrons the option to not double park and water the street thank you thank you very much i also see a hand raise from Norland you may please
provide your testimony as well oh you're on mute you're on mute thank you very much normal Seapport Neighbor Association i just want to second everything that Tom said um it is in the Fort Point neighborhood but it
will serve the greater Fort Point uh Seapport uh area and we're very excited about this business coming in but we do have great concerns about uh uh Thompson Place it's basically a one-lane road and any car stopping for pickup will uh congest that street very quickly um and
as Tom said there will be increased traffic because some of the other changes being made with that thank you very much thank you are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter following testimony are there any further questions from the board none
for me thank you none for me thank you thank you thank you with that the board will take this under adisement as well thank you very much thank you everybody calling item number 11 Chamba Smart and Convenience Store Inc located at 198 Humboldt A in Dorchester has applied for
a retail package store wines and malt beverages license to be exercised on the above premises consists of 1600 square ft with first floor commercial space there's one entrance and two exits there's one bathroom and a cleaning room manager John Reyes closing time 10 p.m attorney Jen Allen attorney Alen good
morning Attorney Green and to members of the board thank you uh Jennifer Allen on behalf of Shamis Mart and Convenience Store um John Ray the owner of the convenience store is also logged in he's has been operating the store and serving
his customers for over 23 years now he's applying for this license due to an overwhelming amount of customers requesting the option to purchase beer and wine at their store due to the high density and population in the neighborhood approving this license
would allow patrons to satisfy their full shopping needs and also get some beer and wine at the same time and at the same place there is not another store close in this vicinity it's a tremendous convenient factor for all of
his customers and the community mr phrase seeks to operate the license in a responsible way while allowing the consumers to satisfy their shopping needs all in one place he has a vested interest in this community as he's been
there for so long with his family and he's not going anywhere anytime soon and John is familiar with the rules of the ABCC and the city of Boston licensing board he's tip certified he's also a US citizen and a Massachusetts
resident he takes the store security very seriously and has implemented security measures including the safety and security plan which was also submitted along with the application um with the right security procedures in
place he can protect um his customers and himself and ensure the safety of the community um he's been working with the local civics groups regarding the safety uh trash and parking concerns um for this specifically and for years for the
support of the license which is why we also had worked on that safety plan um and submitted that to some of the local civic groups as well um he is keeping the same store hours so he's not looking to extend the store hours or the
operation um as mentioned we've had the meetings with the various civic groups and the abutters meetings and we are happy to answer any questions that you guys may have um what have you do you have a plan of uh what level of floor space you're
going to commit to beer and wine yes how hey how are you how you doing everyone thank you for giving me the uh the time um on my that was also submitted just so you know John i submitted the plan with the colors on it but go ahead all right i just to give you you know an example uh the first entry we have four uh
aisles i'm planning to have the last aisle which has like two ways to get in one closed like that everybody has to be able to get only one way to get in get out the peppers so that is like I wanted to have like a full control of who is going to go to the aisle i don't want any minor stuff like that to go to the
aisle and uh at the same time it's going to be a um it's going to be separating of the food or the kids product from the aisle okay also just um sorry plan that we submitted i don't know if
when it was scanned in we have it that's in color that shows specifically the color we I think it's highlighted in green if the plan that you have isn't scanned in color I can make sure to send that over to you just to give you a little bit of an idea of where the
alcohol would go on the shelving and the cooler as well okay uh I don't think I have any other questions uh I may after comments thank you um say attorney Allen the version that I'm looking at it's not in color there's shading on it but it's difficult to see
the colors so version in color i can forward that over in color that'd be great thank you sorry Commissioner Saxon no do Can you just give an approximate of how much um what is the percentage of alcohol versus the other products right can you repeat the question can I
hear you what is the percentage of um alcohol to your other products well if I if I do percent if you count every uh 25% I going to gonna say like 20% or less on alcohol comparing to the rest of the products got it and did you
have to remove any non-alcohol products in order to make room for the alcohol uh to be honest not really okay thank you are there any individuals would like to testify on this matter beginning with elected officials or their representatives yes members of the
board connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services this time the mayor's office going to defer to the judgement of this board some background information the community process and a butterish meeting was held uh in December of 2024 uh there was one resident on that was very supportive of the proposal other residents who
expressed concerns regarding the potential impact on uh the security of the neighborhood uh with an increase in antisocial behavior such as loitering um and consumption uh near a nearby school um the applicant continued to work with the neighborhood and uh various
neighborhood associations in the area ultimately receiving support letters from the Crawford Howland Ruth Ruthan Wenoa Wombbeck Neighborhood Association um and also letters from Project Wright uh with Dorchester Bay and the uh Garrison Troder Neighborhood Association
uh these civic groups um pointed out that um the applicant had worked very closely with them u making sure the sidewalks were clear of people gathering uh that trash was being picked up that the area looked presentable and they were taking appropriate steps to address any concerns regarding uh underage
drinking um occurring from uh from the use as well as making sure that alcohol products are put in the back of the store away from where people might see them uh from the windows uh with that information we'll defer to the board at this time thank you thank you are there any other
individuals who would like to testify on this matter actually we are being joined right now in the waiting room um from Michael Kosu of Project Wright who may wish to testify so we'll give just a moment for uh join very fortuitous
timing uh Mr kosu we are actually on Shambasmart right now i know you just joined but uh did you want to provide any testimony on this item i think I asked you to unmute at the same time that you unmuted yourself there we go thank you um I'd like to uh my name is
Michael Clos with Project Wright we worked with a number of the butters of the Crawford Hall and Ruth and Winona Wombach Association um they met met with uh the owners of 198 Humble uh we appreciate their follow through they
attended several meetings they continue to attend several meetings uh they want to offer conditional support for their application great thank you very much for joining us thank you for your testimony it was great timing are there any other individuals who would like to testify on
this matter any further questions from the board i have none thank you great board will take this under adisement as well thank you very much and calling item number 12 Manina Cafe Inc doing business as Manina Cafe
located at 432 Geneva A in Dorchester has applied for a comic vet or 7-day wines and mop beverages license to be exercised on the above singlestory building on the first floor two rooms with table seating in front capacity 16 and kitchen in rear entrance in front and exit in rear total 640 ft manager
Alejandra Rosa closing time 10 p.m attorney Jen Allen and the board may recall they this uh license at this location was previously approved for a zip code restricted license um and this manager of record was also approved there has since been a change of beneficial interest necessitating uh the
applicant to come back before the board so with that attorney Ellen thank you very much again uh Jennifer Allen on behalf of Manina Cafe as Danny already mentioned this application was previously approved we are just here to correct the stockholders as Alejandra
Rosa is going to be 100% stockholder and it was moved um removing Joseé Rosa which was a minority shareholder that will no longer have any interest in the store um due to some of his background and recent health issues in estate
planning we're there he's removed already so that's all uh thank you attorney Allen i have no questions no questions from me thank you thank you are there any individuals who would like to testify uh on this uh this matter of
that being the ownership interest change seeing none the board will take this under advisement as well thank you very much for that explanation Attorney Allen thank you those are all the items before the board this morning uh the board will vote tomorrow at 10 a.m notice has been posted to the city's website that will adjourn this hearing thank you all and
enjoy the rest of your day thank you cheers