The owners of several North End restaurants have amended their lawsuit over the fees Boston charged North End restaurants to set up tables on sidewalks and in parking spaces last year to add a new charge: That Mayor Wu imposed the fees only in the North End because of her hatred of white, Italian men. Read more.
Boston Restaurant Talk reports Ristorante Fiore on Hanover Street is closing - but it looks like the DePasquale family is looking to open a new Umbria in the space.
Boston Restaurant Talk reports that all the stuff inside what is now the former Jeveli's on Chelsea Street is being advertised for auction. The restaurant, which opened in 1924, closed due to the pandemic in the fall of 2020, then never re-opened.
Stefano and Tsedenia Kiros at hearing today.
The Boston Licensing Board today approved plans by Stefano and Tsedenia Kiros to open an Italian restaurant called Via Cannuccia at 1739 Dorchester Ave. in Dorchester - the former home of an Italian bakery. Read more.
A federal judge yesterday told the owners of four North End restaurants she's inclined to dismiss their suit over a $7,500 city fee to use public sidewalks and streets for outdoor patios this summer, but that as soon as she files a written document stating that, she'll give them two weeks to tell her why the city isn't correct that they have no legal basis for the suit. Read more.
Update: Bissonnette and Oringer agreed to change the name of the restaurant to Faccia a Faccia.
When local chefs Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer went before the Boston Licensing Board for approval to open a new Italian place on Newbury Street called Faccia Brutta, which means "ugly face" in Italian, their attorney said they chose the name because they wanted to show that even though they were serious about their food, "they don't take themselves too seriously." Read more.
Did you vote for Biden in 2020? You might want to think twice before dining at Rabia's Dolce Fumo on Salem Street in the North End, because its owner hates you. Read more.
The Dig finds the lyrical side to the complaint by four North End restaurant owners over the fees they had to pay to use public sidewalks and streets for tables this year.
Four North End restaurant owners say the $7,500 fee they had to pay to extend their restaurants to the public sidewalk is just horribly unfair and so they filed a federal lawsuit against the city today. Read more.
The Boston Licensing Board today took no action on requests by the owners of Boston Chops on Washington Street in the South End to sell their liquor license to a proposed parmigiana-based restaurant in Copley Place - and to then transfer the liquor license from their closed Boston Chops on Temple Place downtown to the Washington Street restaurant - because of a lawsuit by their Temple Place landlord. Read more.
The owner of Antico Forno and Terramia, the owner of Vinoteca di Monica and a Boston police officer are seeking to join a lawsuit against Boston against the requirement for people to show proof of vaccination for most public indoor spaces that was lifted in February. Read more.
Nick Varano supporting the mayor's plan.
Mayor Wu today announced changes in the fee plan for North End dining: Restaurants can pay month by month to put tables on public sidewalks and parking spaces and small restaurants, restaurants without liquor licenses and those not on the main drags of Hanover and Salem streets can get "hardship" reductions in the fees that meant to pay for extra trash pickup and safety measures in the restaurant-dense neighborhood. Read more.
Flier slipped under wiper blades along Hanover today.
Kristina Rex posts a copy of a letter Mayor Wu sent to North End restaurant owners that says the proposed outdoor-dining fee is because the people who actually live in the North End are fed up with the disruptions caused by outdoor dining there and the money would try to make things a bit better for them.
But, Wu continues: Read more.
WCVB reports restaurant owners who got to use city sidewalks and parts of the street for outdoor dining during the pandemic are pushing back on the city's plans to charge them $7,500 to pay for special cleanup efforts and stuff needed in the restaurant-dense neighborhood, plus another few hundred a month to pay for parking for North End residents who lose on-street parking spaces. Restaurant owners in the rest of the city do not face similar charges.
The Davio's chain of Italian steakhouses says Covid-19 physically changed the air and surfaces in his restaurants in Massachusetts and other states and is suing the Strathmore Insurance Co. for refusing to cover claims related to Covid-19 losses at its Boston-area, Pennsylvania and New York outlets. Read more.
The Boston Sun reports on a "fast casual" Italian restaurant proposed for the Copley Place mall that specializes in chicken pahm.
The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans by Gaetano Mirisola to convert his closed restaurant at 200 L St. at East 8th St. into an apartment. Read more.
Former BTD commissioner and state highway administrator Tom Tinlin reports: Read more.
Brian Riccio forwards this shot of William Shatner after a meal at Rino's on Saratoga Street in East Boston last night. Looks like he enjoyed himself, even if they were out of Saurian brandy.
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