davis_square | Somerville licensing board meeting: Tenoch approved

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Somerville licensing board meeting: Tenoch approved

I attended tonight's licensing board hearing; most of the proceedings were special alcohol permits for various parties and functions, but a few bits of local interest:
• The former Kindred will become a coffeeshop called Nine Bar Espresso. They were approved for their Recorded Entertainment permit (so they can play music from an iPod)
• Taco Party in Ball Square (the former Zing Wingz space) was approved as well.
• Tenoch's entertainment permit as well as their beer & wine licenses were approved. Both of their elderly next-door neighbors voiced their concerns about noise and rowdiness, but a representative of the Mayor's office was there to voice the city's support and to note that the community meeting last week had gone very well. The Board approved them with one member abstaining grumpily.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thank for the update and information

Was it the older gentleman that was grumpy?

Yes, yes it was :)

Thanks. Did Tenoch get approved for live entertainment as well as recorded music? (At last week's meeting, they said they would have a mariachi band only for special occasions, mostly in September.)

Yes, they did. They were approved for both entertainment licenses, the transfer of ownership, and the beer/wine license. They had also requested a license to alter the venue, but when they clarified that they were just redecorating a bit, the board removed that request, since it's meant for owners who want to expand their business size.

They told the board that they wanted to be open 7am to 1am and the board was OK with that.

Edited 2015-07-21 11:34 (UTC)

Besides these, they would also have needed a Common Victualer's license to sell food.

Yes, that as well. They received all the licenses they needed. Sorry I didn't mention it up top.

This is excellent news, thanks for the update. I'll keep my thoughts about the elderly neighbors to myself.

Does anyone know how soon Tenoch is likely to open? Did they mention anything in the info meeting?

To defend the "elderly neighbors" just a little bit: they had to put up with the late night Dolly's/Kay & Chips restaurant a couple of decades ago, which was a convenience for people like me but a nuisance for them. The restaurants that followed have had much better behaved clientele, and the neighbors want to keep it that way.

Why would they have any reason to believe that Tenoch was going to have "noise and rowdiness?" To me it sounds like they didn't want anything at all to move into that location, which is unacceptable.

I think the issue was entirely the live-entertainment license, and the proprietors explained that to everyone's satisfaction at last week's community meeting.

No matter what is said at the outset, if the business does not succeed on its core offerings alone the temptation is strong to juice up the "entertainment," as in Diva's failed cocktail lounge (closed after a shooting ), the failed Aquarium (preceded by a failed sports bar and failed Tallulah's), the Surrey Room, and going way back, the Shamrock. The Highland Avenue outskirts present an especially challenging food venue-- even the now successful Five Horses, which is much closer in to the Square, is the fourth establishment on that site since Yee's Village. At the same time, other borderland spots have combined business success with good neighborhood relations: Redbones, Posto (the fourth try on that spot since Carberry's owner moved out of the country), Flatbread.

Someone brought that up at the community meeting -- asking whether they'd add live bands. Tenoch's answer was that, besides that there really isn't the physical space in there for regular live music, that "Mariachis are expensive!" and they could really only afford to have them for special occasions.

I remember most of the establishments you listed here, but "Shamrock" is before my time. Where was it?

The Burren and (sadly soon to close) Johnny D's have presented entertainment and are great assets to our community. The Surrey Room also eventually became the reasonably respectable Rosebud Bar & Grill with live bands, before that closed and the whole Rosebud complex was done over.

Edited 2015-07-21 12:00 (UTC)

The Shamrock operated under the licensing umbrella (and in the basement of) the Woodbridge Inn, before a series of fires led to the replacement of the Woodbridge by Ciampa Manor. As with the Surrey Room and the Willow Jazz Club in Ball Square, there were also policing issues involved.

The recurring issue is not "live" entertainment as such (the Diva and Aquarium used canned DJ music) but license-stretching attempts to save failing establishments by attracting a rowdy crowd. Not a likely scenario in the current case.

Johnny D's has made a great contribution to Davis Square and to the larger community!

I'm very sad for the loss of Johnny D's and I hope that another live music and dancing venue will replace it soon in the Davis Square area. But yes, the Tenoch location is not the place, it's too small.

For those who haven't lived here as long as Lee (

jlauspitz) and I .... the Aquarium was where Orleans is now. It was so loud that a neighboring condo owner who shared a wall with the club had to move out until she was able to get the city to close it down.

Edited 2015-07-21 14:44 (UTC)

In neighborhood and licensing meetings the Aquarium owners said that they planned a family-friendly restaurant with a play area for young children. I believe that they were sincere in this, but when their formula proved to be unsustainable commercially they went in an opposite direction. A cautionary example.

Did Aquarium's permitting for the family-friendly restaurant and play area also include what was needed for a rowdy nightclub atmosphere? It's hard to imagine that a restaurant by the former description would ask for late night hours and music licenses, for instance. What happened when they changed format? Did the city get involved or did Aquarium close of its own volition?

After a lot of neighborhood protest, I recall the city eventually yanking Aquarium's permit, or threatening to do so, causing it to close. A city inspector found them to be not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Both neighbors who spoke up said that they had memories of older venues from many years ago that had attracted rowdy drunks. They both said that they recognize that being next to a restaurant has its risks, and that they were happy to work with Tenoch to keep things pleasant.

They told me that they were hoping to open as early as the second week of August, since they're not changing the interior of M3 and the restaurant is all set up already --- all they have to do is get their licenses, hang the new sign, and put tables/chairs in.

Is Taco Party getting an alcohol license also, or just a common victualer's license?

Taco Party is just getting a victualer's license and a recorded entertainment permit. They'll be selling all-vegetarian tacos.

Thanks for all your reporting on this meeting! See you at the grand opening (of either place)?

All vegetarian tacos!! Fantastic!

Yay! This is really great news! Thanks for reporting the info from the meeting!

Excellent news. Bring on the Tortas and the Mariachi bands. :-)

Those sandwiches are so good. I love their food truck and it's great they'll be in Davis year-round. SO GOOD. Did I mention delicious?

Thanks for the update!

Elizabeth

Well this all sucks to hear.
We don't need another coffee shop and I'm hoping the "Taco party" is something for children since we had those in elementary school.

And it's awful to hear that another business as well as the city couldn't care less about an elderly couple. Just when I think that there is no way Somerville could get any worse than it had, it does.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

We don't need another coffee shop
Why not? Right now we have an excellent indie coffeeshop and several places that serve decent coffee (and a chain). The Kindred space has been essentially vacant for nearly two years. I'm totally OK with a business moving in there with another coffee option, especially if it's high quality. Hoping for the best.

I'm hoping the "Taco party" is something for children
It isn't. Taco Party is a very successful food truck that's opening their first brick-and-mortar, with a selection of creative, vegetarian tacos. You're against their business because you don't like their name? Because it has "party" in it? Really?

And it's awful to hear that another business as well as the city couldn't care less about an elderly couple.
I don't know where you got that idea, but you're bizarrely off-base. Two people spoke with concerns: an older man who's the landlord of the apartment building nearby and an older woman who owns the real estate business next to M3/Tenoch. Both of them were worried that there would be drunks and loud music, because they remembered rowdy crowds at an older restaurant there, over a decade ago. Tenoch assured them that they weren't planning on live music on a regular basis, and weren't running a bar; they agreed to work with both residents to make sure nobody was impacted, and agreed to adjust their hours if they were causing any problems.

I'm sorry if you're in a bad mood, but I think you need a taco party.

When that's the type of mindset you are dealing with, I'm not sure how you are supposed to have an fruitful discussion about anything, unfortunately.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Somerville licensing board meeting: Tenoch approved

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