Clayton Weston explains his Roxbury proposal.
The Boston Licensing Board today heard six applicants explain why they should get one of the new neighborhood-specific liquor licenses the city now has to dole out.
The board will take no action on the proposals until sometime after May 23, the deadline it's set for accepting applications for this year's batch of licenses, which can only be used in the Zip codes in which they are allocated and which, unlike more traditional licenses, cannot be resold. The board has at least five licenses for each of 13 Zip codes to dole out, plus one for Oak Square in Brighton.
Among the applicants, Clayton Weston, a longtime BPS educator and Roxbury real-estate investor, who is working to turn a long vacant block of three storefronts at 300 Warren St. in Roxbury into a West Indian-focused family restaurant, with 75 seats and a bar for 11 people.
"We have no place in our community, in Roxbury, to go and sit and have a nice dinner and have a drink amongst people in our community or bring people into the community to understand what we have in Roxbury," Weston said at a hearing today. "We don't have any West Indian restaurants where you can actually sit down and eat with your family and friends and community members."
Weston had originally started working on a plan for a sports bar, but agreed to change the focus to a sit-down restaurant after meeting with nearby residents.
Several residents, and an aide to state Sen. Liz Miranda, supported Weston's bid for a liquor license. Several residents noted the only sit-down place in the area now is a McDonald's. "I don't think McDonald's should be our family restaurant," Beverly Williams said.
Nobody spoke against the proposal.
Jamaican food in Grove Hall
Andre Williams, who has been serving up Jamaica food for a couple years now at Cool Shade Jamaican, 388 Blue Hill Ave. in Grove Hall, is seeking a full liquor license. He told the board he'd love to serve Jamaican drinks such as rum punch and Red Stripe beer to go with his jerk chicken, ox tail and other Jamaican dishes.
Through an aide, state Sen. Liz Miranda supported his application.
Hispanic food in Egleston Square
Paula Martinez requested an all-alcohol license for her AAA Restaurant, 3141 Washington St., on the Jamaica Plain side of Egleston Square.
Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council member Michael Reiskind said the council has a meeting in early May with Martinez, who had previously met with the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association, which did not take a position on the proposal.
Haitian, Dominican and Cuban food in Codman Square
Nathalie Lecorps, who has long worked in her family's restaurant and run her own food truck, told the board her Doune & Pepe, 657 Washington St., wants to pair Caribbean drinks with her planned Haitian, Dominican and Cuban fusion menu, with most dishes served tapas style.
LeCorps said she hoped to open her 49-seat restaurant this fall.
An aide to state Sen. Liz Miranda offered support and noted that Lecorps had done valuable work during Covid-19 preparing meals for people, which she then repeated to help some 900 immigrant families.
Gastropub in Oak Square
Damian and Candice Dowling, who run the Abbey pubs in Brookline and Cambridge, want to open a similar gastropub at 571-575 Washington St. in Brighton's Oak Square, only with the name Mo's Tavern & Kitchen. The Dowlings, who live in Oak Square, said their new place would be "a neighborhood family-friendly American-style bistro" that would serve everything from deviled eggs to fresh pasta and seafood.
One neighbor said he was excited to see a business actually going into what is now a vacant site, but said he hoped the Dowlings would do something to clean up the building's existing roden problem.
New cultural center and restaurant on Tremont Street in Roxbury
Embrace Boston is seeking a license to let it open a restaurant and serve food and drinks at the center it hopes to build at 1200 Tremont St., across from BPD headquarters.
The group, now best known for its Embrace memorial to Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King on Boston Common, would build the center as part of a larger project on Parcel P3 that will also include affordable housing and life-sciences lab and training space. The Embrace part of the project would include a theater, an event space and meeting rooms.
Earlier applicants for this year's new neighborhood licenses.