Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Blog

From the bright lights of the Boston liquor licensing scene comes a story from the Newburyport paper about a controversial ousting from the Salisbury Liquor Licensing Commission. Interestingly, the Salisbury's separate Liquor Licensing Commission came by special legislation in the 1950s, after residents grew concerned over the way the selectmen were handling liquor related issues.

The Dedham Board of Selectmen has approved an all-alcoholic beverage restaurant license for Wicked Fire Kissed Pizza, slated to open in mid- to late September at Legacy Place in Dedham. Presuming the license is approved by the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, there will soon be nearly ten establishments serving alcohol at Legacy Place. Whole Foods has a wine and malt package store license, and the following restaurants have all-alcohol licenses: Legal C Bar, Aquitaine, Met Bar & Grill, Kings, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Yard House, and Wicked.

The Brookline Board of Selectmen is going to be studying the town's standards and procedures for issuing new liquor licenses in town. The town is down to its last three licenses for new establishments. Current establishments with licenses can continue to serve alcohol......

I was before the Brookline board last night on behalf of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Board approved the license application, which will now go to the state ABCC for final approval.

All establishments serving alcohol must be aware of a newly-enacted law mandating that all liquor licensees provide proof of Liquor Liability coverage with their local licensing authority when applying for or renewing a liquor license. The minimum coverage limit is $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence, and takes effect on August 28, 2010. The insurance is intended to address the situation where a customers was over-served alcohol, and then left the facility and caused injury to someone else while intoxicated.

Chapter 116 of the Acts of 2010 amends Mass. G. L. Chapter 138 Sec. 12, the law in Massachusetts that governs issuance of liquor licenses.

Controversial column by Renee Loth today in the Boston Globe on the benefits of keeping the alcohol tax, which liquor retailers and distributors in Massachusetts wish to see repealed, with a return to the prior exempt status for alcohol. Loth reports on the hundreds of substance abuse counseling, educational, and treatment programs supported by the $93 million the alcohol tax has brought in during the past fiscal year.

This article details the possible end to what has been a nasty family dispute in Worcester County. We'll see if the deal gets finalized.

TJX has agreed to remove drinking board games from TJ Maxx stores after Globe columnist Beverly Beckham reported her concerns to TJX that these games were marketed toward underage drinkers and were irresponsible, especially during prom and graduation season. Beckham's recent column highlights her quest to get TJX to stop selling these games. Click here for the article.

Interesting piece in today's Boston Globe about websites such as yelp.com where regular ol' consumers are acting as food critics and posting restaurant reviews. I'm all for it - the more information from customers from which other customers can benefit, the better. However, the article discusses the possibility that these websites are pressuring the restaurants to advertise with them or else face retribution with some of the reviews, while, if they do advertise, negative reviews may magically disappear from the site. If true, this misconduct by these websites should come to an end.