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Boston has four valuable all-alcohol licenses to give out over the next year: A North End restaurant owner is asking for two of them

Carla Gomes, who owns two Italian restaurants in the North End, today made the case why she should get two of the four all-alcohol licenses - worth an instant $600,000 or so to whoever gets them - that the Boston Licensing Board will give out over the next year, although she said she's not greedy and would be happy with just one.

City officials say they want to distribute all of the new licenses it now has - including dozens that have no resale value and meant for specific Zip codes that do not include the North End - to maximize support of unique restaurants and potential wealth generation in neighborhoods under-served by sit-down restaurants today. But Gomes noted that both her restaurants are on Salem Street, which she said is completely under-served with liquor licenses, at least when compared to Hanover and North streets.

"Salem Street has two all-alcohol licenses," her attorney, Kieran Altieri, said. "There's just no oversaturation on Salem Street when it comes to alcohol licenses."

Those two licenses are twice the number of licenses in the entire neighborhood of Mattapan currently, but Altieri gave another reason the board should disregard its stated policies for doling out the new licenses it was recently awarded by the state, which he acknowledged was "the elephant in the room:" To do otherwise would risk killing the golden goose that the North End is for the entire city, or as he put it, with another animal metaphor, not giving the North End any new licenses would be like "starving the pandas at the zoo."

Tourists flock to the North End, making the neighborhood "the lifeblood of economic activity for a large part of the city," one that needs the nourishment of new licenses, he said.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce, however, remained skeptical of the need to give Gomes's Antico Forno and Terramia - which currently have beer-and-wine licenses - two of the four salable all-alcohol licenses the board can give out this year. "One might argue the North End in general might be over-saturated with Italian restaurants," she said. "This is a neighborhood that already offers a lot of Italian food."

She asked what made Gomes' versions of Italian food unique.

Gomes pointed to the unusual pizza oven Antico Forno has - it's a unique double-domed wood-fired brick oven with a floor made of Neopolitan volcanic ash, hand-built by a craftsman who flew in from Naples, which gets pizza cooked in 90 seconds or less because it reaches a temperature of 1,000 degrees. "It's not one of those packaged ovens that you get in the mail these days," she said. "There is no other oven like it in the city of Boston." Altieri said people come to the North End specifically to get Antico Forno's pizza.

Terramia, meanwhile, with just 12 tables, provides a "very intimate" environment more akin to "a little cafe in Italy" which makes it "very different from a lot of other restaurants int the North End, Altieri said.

Gomes said that were she to get the licenses - or even just one of them - she would not simply turn around and sell them. She's been running her restaurants for three decades now and wants to keep the restaurants going. She added that she has watched other North End restaurant owners - all men and none, she said, born and bred in the North End like her - get full-service licenses in years past while she was denied.

Two North End residents spoke in support of her bid. Tara Gear, who lives on Commercial Wharf, praised Gomes as somebody who "works her tail off" and who has "the total support of the community." She continued that Gomes "is just a doer, she's a force to be reckoned with," a successful restaurant operator who gives back to the community and who is "a total inspiration to women."

The licensing board is accepting applications for all the new licenses until Dec. 6, after which it will conduct a series of meetings to figure out the best restaurants to award licenses to this year - with the losers going on a waiting list for consideration in next year's round of licenses. The state legislature awarded Boston a total of 225 licenses, to be split into three annual groups for distribution.

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Comments

This demonstrates the utter absurdity and corruption baked into the existing system.

The only remotely equitable and ethical way to allocate these is to hold a lottery.

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A lottery would give everybody an equal chance of receiving these licenses, but that would not be equitable, because it wouldn't account for the current inequity in the system.

Equitable would be awarding these licenses to underserved communities, as they intend to do.

Of course, long term what would be equitable is licensing reform to make liquor licenses more like drivers licenses: pro forma issuance to anybody without a history of violations.

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Well, the city already got 225 licenses set aside explicitly for underserved communities.

The issue here is that each of these four licenses are tantamount to a bag filled with mid six figures' worth of cash. There are certainly dozens--hundreds--of applicants who could make a highly compelling claim for why they deserve one.

I do agree entirely with your third point. We simply need to rip the bandage off and set a 20-year timeline or something to fully depreciate the existing licenses via accelerating issuance of new licenses.

There was never a contractual promise that the number of licenses would be maintained in deficit permanently. People chose to treat them as having value and the result is bad for everybody but a couple thousand people who have an ownership interest. I can feel sympathy for the smaller independent operators among them but they do not deserve to be the controlling voice in the debate.

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are getting -more- of these licenses, for that very reason.

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No, they're getting neighborhood licenses which are non-transferrable and lack independent value (which, obviously, none of these licenses should have, but these 4 do). That's good! but these licenses are transferrable and worth about $600k each. I'd say those should ALSO go to underserved neighborhoods, which happens to also coincide with neighborhoods that have a lower level of median household wealth.

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Well said @epeemike81 on the equitable front. These licenses were created with specific underserved communities in mind and the North End isn't one of them.

All new licenses will be just that - a license. It permits the holder to sell alcohol if they meet the qualifications, terms and conditions. When a place closes, it reverts to the city. No selling any licenses issued from here on out.

This crap needs to stop.

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Tourists and residents will continue to go to the North End, alcohol or not. That she has been able to open two restaurants in the neighborhood is proof of that.
One person not getting two licenses will not "kill the North End", but nice attempt at not only hyperbole but asking for two so she looks generous by receiving one, which is still more than the neighborhood needs in comparison to others.

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I hope city understands there will consequences for giving any new all liquor licenses to the North End. If she can afford 2 restaurants, she can buy one.

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Are we supposed to believe both that tourists are flocking to the North End to eat Italian food, and that the neighborhood desperately needs more liquor licenses in order to lure tourists?

Is that unique pizza oven drawing tourists to Gomes's restaurant, or are they turning away because they can't get hard liquor with their pizza, only beer and wine?

Gomes and her lawyer certainly aren't making her restaurants sound appealing.

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But the City makes people jump through these hoops to prove there’s a “need.” And the result is some ridiculous lawyering and logical gaffes that don’t make any sense. They need to throw this process out and start over.

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A lawsuit blaming the current administration for unfairness. I understand that these licenses will be available to underserved neighborhoods...she is free to open a restaurant in Mattapan and get one of those licenses she wants. Not greedy? She has two beers and wine in both of her restaurants, which is more than Haitian and Dominican restaurants or any other ethnic cuisine within the City. Italian restaurants, probably many of them if not all in the North End have some kind of alcohol license

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She was one of the 19 people who sued Boston over the requirement to show proof of vaccination to enter certain indoor public spaces (such as restaurants). She and the others each sought $6 million in damages. A federal judge turned Gene Wilder and told all of them you get nothing.

She was one of the North End restaurant owners who sued the city when it imposed a fee on North End restaurants to keep using public sidewalks and parking spaces as patios. This suit was with the same lawyer as the above case, in which their case was basically that Michelle Wu hates white Italian men (which was an interesting specification since, obviously, she is not a man, and two of the Mendoza brothers, who were a part of the suit, are not Italian).

Then they dropped that case.

Then, she and a larger group of North End restaurants filed a new suit - this time including one of the North End's two resident groups as a defendant. This time the complaint said the mayor (and the neighborhood group) hated Italians in general.

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Thought you were going this way with the link, Adam:

https://youtu.be/KHJbSvidohg?si=Aj-dhZVCh4kSFbiO

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Thank you, Adam, for reminding us of this context.

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Salem St. Resident here, remaining anonymous fearing a brick through my window. Ms. Gomes, along with the other established restauranteurs in the North End, does not need or merit one of these liquor licenses. She and her fellow litigants have repeatedly sued the city for siding with the actual residents over the multimillionaire restaurant owners. She has expressed contempt for the people who reside around and above her establishments. Send these Liquor Licenses to JP, Dorchester, Eastie, etc. where they are needed.

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I was about to say "JP actually doesn't need more licenses," but then I remembered one that we could use (or could have used before a lovely new Nepali restaurant moved into the space).

When the Haven moved across JP and took over the old Bella Luna space, their original intent was to keep both that and their Hyde Square location open... but, despite the city liquor board voicing their approval, they were unable to get a second (neighborhood) license and had to close the Hyde Square location. Unfortunately, it's too late to bring it back now (though glad to have Momo Masala!).

Hoping Abuela's Table can grab a license (assuming they want one), though. Their food is great, but I'd love to have a margarita with my tacos.

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She has expressed contempt for the people who reside around and above her establishments.

The neighborhood council voted to support these two and three other restaurants seeking full liquor licenses at Tuesday's meeting. No one spoke against or sent a letter in opposition to the board.

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This is not it a ploy to pile onto the lawsuit. She knows she is not getting on of these let alone two.

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The audcaity of these people in the North End. Absolutely disgusted by what I've just read.

the board should disregard its stated policies for doling out the new licenses it was recently awarded by the state, which he acknowledged was "the elephant in the room:" To do otherwise would risk killing the golden goose that the North End is for the entire city

I mean how tone deaf are you about what the city is trying to do here and above this to its image in general. Did the "All Inclusive Bos" campaign open no ones eyes?

Doesn't the North end have like 70 liquor licenses. More than 3x the number of liquor licenses all black people in the city hold? 70x more than the much larger neighborhood of Mattapan.

If it wasn't already clear that North Enders do not view POC as their fellow citizens or equals (it was already clear), then this makes it abundantly clear that they do not. And much more value the health of their bank accounts, and the wallets of tourists more than the fortunes of "the entire city"

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North Enders, who are the current actual residents of America's oldest neighborhood, are not making these requests. These proposals are coming from the restaurant owners, almost none of whom live in the North End.

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You clearly haven't heard of Acoma Pueblo, which has been continuously inhabited for over 1200 years.

But I guess pre-contact neighborhoods don't count?

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Santa Fe, New Mexico is older than Boston.

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Saint Augustine, Florida is older still - 1565!

Albany, NY clocks in at 6 years pre-Mayflower - 1614
Hopewell, VA - 1613
New York City - 1623

For major city hybrid longevity, Tuscon, AZ has been continuously inhabited since around 1300 AD.

For the truly discerning pasta and red sauce buzz enthusiasts?

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That would certainly attract tourists and increase their appetites.

All-in-one treat!

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Check and check...

Ok, thanks. That's two more to put on my list of "never in a million years will I entertain going to these restaurants or telling anyone to go to these restaurants ever again".

I mean, I love how these people just tattle on themselves so I can keep my list up to date. Pretty soon it'll just be easier for me to say "don't go to the North End for dinner, it's just not worth supporting all those assholes running the place". Maybe some of the other North End restauranteurs who aren't assholes like these need to speak up and form their own group and start pushing back against the anti-vax, anti-mayor, anti-resident, anti-equity greedy assholes that are ruining their reputation. Maybe the neighborhood needs to make them feel less welcome (by pushing back at the neighborhood association meetings).

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