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Boston restaurants can now get a license to sell groceries

By adamg on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 10:01am

Boston yesterday announced regulations that will let restaurants sell groceries during the Covid-19 crisis - after they get file for and get a license from the city licensing board, which will require submitting an "operational plan" showing how the restaurants will handle the retail food safely.

In a statement, Mayor Walsh said the move will both help support restaurants slammed by the loss of dining residents and residents in need of fresh food - and will make supermarkets safer:

By allowing restaurants to also sell grocery and other essential items, we can help address social distancing concerns in grocery stores while supporting restaurants and food businesses during these unprecedented times.

In addition to the license, restaurants will also have to post signs or labels detailing the provenance of the food and an "ingredient statement" - to make up for the fact that the commercial food supplies restaurants typically get do not have the sort of nutritional information typically found on retail food products sold in supermarkets.

Neighborhoods: 
Boston
Topics: 
Dining
Free tagging: 
Boston Licensing Board


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Comments

By Will LaTulippe on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 11:21am.

Well, I have a license to sell hot dogs. At least, that's what my dad would say when I was a kid and I had my fly open.

By dmcboston on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 12:11pm.

Sounds more like you would have needed an entertainment license.

By anon on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 3:21pm.

abbreviated Concord Blue Devils version, 1976 DCI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7W93ZO4LE

By Old Groucho on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 12:23pm.

Has anyone told Marty that there are other businesses that exist in this city

Why do restaurants get so much ink these days while EVERYONE is hurting???

By this logic, why can't bars deliver booze or dispensaries weed? Why not let the post office sell coffee and donuts or Bernie and Phyll's offer oil changes?

By anon on Sun, 04/26/2020 - 12:31pm.

gonna blow your mind: you CAN get booze and weed delivered to your house. i have gotten deliveries of both during the past month. harpoon and other breweries will bring you beer to your house too. and you can pick up beer/wine from restaurant to-gos (most “bars” do not have enough food to be open for takeout unless you want to buy $1 bag of chips)

By Don't Panic on Sun, 04/26/2020 - 11:20pm.

In Brigham Circle has the beer delivery along with a dinner order. But I think they are only open on Friday's now?

By Matt Frank on Mon, 04/27/2020 - 8:51am.

So this is where sheer economics steps in. Does doing this help keep restaurants afloat and give them access to more ways to make money? Yes. Does it also help solve a problem , a problem where people are having a hard time getting the food resources they need. So it only makes sense to do this.

Bars can deliver booze... as long as you order food too. Liquor stores also offer deliveries.

If the Post Office wanted to meet the minimum requirements to sell coffee and donuts I say why not. You make it sound like the requirements for selling a loaf of bread are more onerous than the requirements for preparing and serving a meal... I have confidence people with Safe Serve certs can handle selling bread and eggs.

By TheChaldean on Sat, 04/25/2020 - 6:34pm.

Verily, we could not have exited this crisis without finding a tax somewhere. How gracious. They probably wanna see how profitable this idea is, before before they...Nevertheless, it looks like the Gov. found a lot of passive income!

By lbb on Mon, 04/27/2020 - 12:10pm.

It's working, too. I know a number of restaurants that have access to supplies and are selling them. In most cases it isn't repackaged at all, so there's minimal handling (but you need to be willing to buy a 25 pound bag of flour or a 2 pound brick of yeast). Many are also selling toilet paper, and some have hand sanitizer. Given what a lost cause most chain supermarkets are, it's a really good alternative: get takeout and some groceries at the same time.