More restaurant comings and goings

[ron_newman]

Out of the Blue, the fish restaurant at Highland and Cutter Avenue, has a sign in the window saying it is moving to 215 Elm Street. This is the storefront formerly occupied by Pluto, next door to the Rosebud.

On Mass. Ave., between Day and Dover streets, a vacant storefront has a sign announcing that the 'GRAND PRIX CAFE' is coming soon. (Hmm... the High Price Coffee?). This is in the short block of stores that also contains a Thai and a Bengali restaurant.

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

IIRC, Somerville has some kind of regulation on how long a business can be open (which is why the Store 24 is a Store 18). If this is so, coffeehouses wanting to stay open late would have to sacrifice their morning-commuter business to do so -- which would be equivalent to stabbing long, pointy stakes through their hearts. Not gonna happen.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

Actually, it is open 24 hours -- just not in a row.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Somerville used this law to keep Manray from re-opening up in Somerville *bah*

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

But . . . why would Manray be open longer than the magic number of hours, anyway? Or is there also another law about how late any business can be open, regardless of the time they start their day?

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

From what I heard the law that states when businesses can be open was cited as a reason. I'm sure that there is a whole raft of slightly differening regulations. When do the other bars in Somerville close? I usually go out in Cambridge or Boston.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I think they all close at 1 a.m.; I haven't been out at any of them, but I know that's the latest the Diesel remains open, though I had also thought that was tied in to the "can't be open more than 18 hours in any 24."

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Bars _should_ be able to be open until 2am and I doubt that they are open for 18 hours :)

Bar closing hours in Somerville

[ron_newman]

Somerville bars generally must close at 1 am.

The Board of Aldermen has authorized a limited number of 2 am licenses. The first four were awarded to Toast (in Union Square), the Independent (also in Union Square), Good Time Emporium (in Assembly Square), and PJ Ryan's (in Teele Square). They can stay open until 2 am only on Friday and Saturday nights.

More may be awarded, but I suspect that any attempt to grant one in Davis Square will arouse considerable opposition from neighbors who like to sleep at night.

[ron_newman]

My understanding is that Store 24 must close at midnight because people live directly above it, and they were tired of loud people and cars in the parking lot after midnight.

Instead of forcing the store to close at midnight, a better idea would have been to just close the parking lot at midnight, so people would have to park in the street and walk to the store.

I also recall that other convenience stores used to be open 24 hours, such as the Christy's Market at Somerville Avenue and Elm Street. They were repeatedly robbed in the wee hours of the morning, and I think the police got tired of responding to these calls.

[ron_newman]

If there really is a rule that businesses can only be open for 18 hours, it somehow doesn't apply to Dunkin Donuts on Elm Street, which opens at 4:30 am (!) and closes at midnight.