Ten Boston restaurants just got the green light on Thursday to upgrade their beer and wine permits into restricted all alcohol licenses, which means they can now pour straight spirits for on premises cocktails. The approvals stretch across the North End, Beacon Hill, the Seaport, South Boston and East Boston, so a mix of neighborhood bars and family restaurants will soon be serving drinks they could not offer before. For some of these spots it is a modest tweak to the menu, while for others it could be the shift that boosts late night sales and foot traffic.
As shown in city filings, the Boston Licensing Board voted during its April 30 voting agenda to reclassify the permits under M.G.L. Chapter 138, Section 12D. According to City of Boston, the petitions on that agenda were marked “Granted.” The reclassification formally turns each permit into a “(restricted) All-Alcoholic Beverages License,” which allows on premises service of distilled spirits.
Which restaurants won upgrades
The list cuts across several busy districts. In the North End, Table, Benevento’s and Trattoria Al Dente received upgrades. On Beacon Hill, Willie’s and Zurito will share a single full license. In the Seaport, Row 34 and Yankee Lobster were approved, while South Boston’s Roza Lyons and three East Boston spots, Billares Colombia, Bohemio’s and Mi Pueblito, also received reclassifications, as reported by The Boston Globe.
“You can sell different things you couldn’t sell before,” Joseph Bono, owner of Benevento’s and Trattoria Al Dente, told The Boston Globe. He emphasized that the move is not meant to “reinvent the wheel” so much as to give the restaurants a few more spirits forward options.
Why this is happening
The changes follow state and city efforts to expand pouring rights after lawmakers authorized new permits last year. The 2024 legislation set aside 225 new licenses for Boston, and the city has been rolling out a process that lets holders trade beer and wine permits for restricted all alcohol ones, per City of Boston. The policy is designed to broaden access to alcohol permits without juicing the expensive secondary market that has historically priced many small operators out of Boston, where a single transferable license has sold for as much as $600,000, according to WBUR.
The upgraded permits are restricted, which means they carry limits on resale and location that keep them tied to neighborhoods rather than a free for all marketplace. The board action was first flagged by local tracker Universal Hub, and operators now have to update their menus and staff training before spirit service begins. Expect cocktails to appear gradually as bars roll out new bottle lists and programs over the coming weeks.
