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Bostonians' unquenchable hunger for late-night pizza gets three pizza places in trouble

But the result could be formal requests for later hours for pizza places in the Fenway and in Brighton - as late as 3 a.m. for the Brighton Domino's.

University House of Pizza in the Fenway and Papa John's and Domino's in Brighton all had to explain this morning why they were open way past their licensed closing times at a hearing before the Boston Licensing Board.

Detectives from the BPD licensing unit found University House of Pizza, 452 Huntington Ave., open at 2:27 a.m. on May 4 - nearly 90 minutes past its licensed 1 a.m. closing time. The next night, detectives found Papa John's, 533 Washington St., open 30 minutes past its 1 a.m. closing time and Domino's, 464 Washington St., open almost three hours past its 11 p.m. closing time.

The owners of University House of Pizza and Papa John's apologized for the over-extended hours and said they were simply beset by students, bar flies and other night owls coming in looking for cheesy comestibles. A representative of Domino's also apologized and said the problem was that a manager in training thought that Domino's was like many other Domino's in the area and licensed to stay open until 3 a.m. to prepare orders for delivery.

All three pizza places said they will seek license changes to allow them to stay open later - 2 a.m. for University House of Pizza and Papa John's and 3 a.m. for delivery for the Domino's. The Allston Domino's is already licensed for deliveries up to 3 a.m.

The changes will require meetings with local neighborhood groups and hearings before the licensing board.

Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer expressed sympathy for the restaurants but said they can't keep doing this. She said she was particularly disappointed in Domino's, in part because three hours is way excessive.

The board decides Thursday what penalties, if any, to levy.

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Comments

How do they figure that UHOP is on Mission Hill? I think most people would place that squarely in the Fenway area (it's across the street from the Museum and the Fens)

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Some guy from a Mission Hill resident or business group (I have the name, but on a piece of paper that's not in front of me right now) spoke on the pizza place's behalf and obviously, I concluded 2+2=5 ...

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That was richie rouse!

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We're not even talking about a bar or something with alcoholic beverages, which is at least legitimate grounds for concern- it's just a pizza place! I don't understand why we're even bothering to regulate the closing hours.

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A lot of these businesses have small seating areas and do mostly carryout/delivery. There's no difference between ordering delivery and popping a frozen pizza in the oven, except that perhaps if you're drunk, you'll burn the house down using the oven.

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These businesses, whether a pizza joint or bar, know what their hours of operation are when they apply and get approved for a license. Staying open beyond that agreed upon time is against the rules. Just because you get a driver's license doesn't mean you can drive a 18 wheeler.
These "business" people get no sympathy from me.

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Just because they exist doesn't mean they should.

Oh sure, there are rules and they should be penalized for breaking the rules I suppose (because other businesses suffer for following them, giving up potential late sales)- but I'm asking why the rules exist at all in this particular case?

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Rules are not morals. And they get broken all the time. If someone jaywalks in the middle of the night with no cars on the road, a cop ticketing them would be a rediculous waste of time. This is also a waste of time.

And maybe if I want to get a slice of pizza in the middle of tht night its causing you nor anyone else any harm so its none of your business.

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"causing you nor anyone else any harm so its none of your business."
When you and your drunken frat boy friends upset the quality of life of decent people trying to sleep at 2 AM by pissing, vomiting, being loud/obnoxious, and throwing your pizza crusts onto private property, then you deserve a punch in the Adam's apple.

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This is a completely different problem from selling pizza in the middle of the night. If someone throwing pizza crust is your issue, the response is not "NO PIZZA AFTER MIDNIGHT FOR ANYONE!"

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They could have bought that pizza crust earlier than midnight! The only solution is a total ban on pizza. Restrictions should also be placed on tomato sales to make sure no one will operate back-alley pizzerias.

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That would be a threat to the late night pizza monopoly which allows for credit card fraud! UHub & WBZ? reported on this awhile ago.

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Is there a time of day before which credit card fraud is inherently impossible? Please let me know, so I can be sure to do all my credit-based pizza purchases before then.

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Of course not- but there is a late night food delivery company still in business, despite repeated allegations of serious credit card fraud, because they are the only game in town.

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Dear Business Owner,

Please explain to me why your business was busy enough to stay open past your legal closing time. How can your business be thriving with our restrictive, NIMBY-inspired laws?! We must take corrective action and enact penalties, fines, and suspensions.

Thanks you,
BLB

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lives up to its name once again. Between this crap and bpd detectives running sting operations to catch hotels giving away glasses of champaign at check in, it's getting ridiculous. Hopefully our next mayor makes some changes in this area

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Why are they spending my tax dollars on something that doesn't harm quality of life (and arguably improves it) but are too busy to send someone out for things people WANT enforced?

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have decided that it harms THEIR quality of life. Which is another reason why "quality of life" is not an appropriate benchmark to use in situations like this - because it's highly subjective.

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see my comment below..

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Seriously.. I wish BPD put as much effort in these 'sting' operations (on businesses whose business is booming and stay open later than posted to accommodate the extra business), as much as they did getting the violence, guns, and gangs off our street.

Like others I have said.. its a PIZZA place. Not a bar. No Booze was served, and people care about this crap.

I'll keep saying this until it sinks in.. Boston wants to become a world class city, when was the last time you were in a World Class City and went out at 3am for a bite to eat and was faced with "closed" signs. NEVER. Stop trying to make Boston into the suburbs. You want the suburbs.. move there and take your NIMBYisms with you.

(So flippin tired of this crap..)

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Oddly enough, if you want to eat past 2am, the suburbs are your best bet.

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oh I'm well aware..

I can count on one hand how many places in Boston are open past 1. I need several sets of hands and feet to do the same for the 'burbs.

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I honestly don't think the BPD is putting a great deal of effort into this. Sting Operation or responding to the umpteenth phone call from a disgruntled citizen that "That pizza place is open again... you have to DO something..."? Based on what I've heard at some Allston Community meetings- I'd put money on the second.

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They were driving down Huntington Avenue on May 4 and saw the lights still on at UHOP and were driving down Washington Street on May 5 and saw the lights still on, so no calls from an outraged citizenry in these three cases.

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That makes sense, though I do think labelling it a "sting" is overstating it a bit much.

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Wish we had a late night PHO joint. Wowzaaaa

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If I contact her, it ain't gonna be about pizza-place hours.

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Loud and clear!

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Sorry to post a link, but they should spend more timing making sure these guys are out of business:

http://digboston.com/laugh/2012/08/regal-cafe-pizz...

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