By John Lynds
Following the Boston City Council’s lead, the Boston Licensing Board (BLB) voted unanimously last Thursday lifting the long-standing ban on BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) in small neighborhood restaurants. However, Beacon Hill would not be included in the plan.
According to a statement from the BLB, the board will work on drafting “stringent rules to regulate the practice” over the next several months.
The bill, introduced by At-Large City Councilor Michelle Wu, would allow patrons of restaurants with 30 seats or less and a waitstaff to bring their own bottles of beer and wine. However, restaurants in Beacon Hill Downtown, the North End, South End, Bay Village, Fenway, Chinatown, Seaport, West End, Beacon Hill, and Back Bay neighborhoods of Boston are not eligible for the new BYOB program.
“BYOB will bring new vitality to our city by giving small-business owners and consumers more options to build a vibrant restaurant scene in every neighborhood,” said Michelle Wu in a statement last week.
Wu said the new ordinance would help small restaurants in Boston’s outer neighborhoods to begin competing with restaurants in areas inundated with beer, wine and liquor licenses like Beacon Hill. Many restaurant owners without beer, wine or liquor licenses have long complained thay lose patrons to downtown due to the inability to provide alcohol.
It’s unclear if the BLB would adopt the same regulation set forth by the City Council’s vote back in December but Wu feels the Council’s proposal is a good road map to do BYOB in a safe, regulated way. She added that it is meant to give entrepreneurs an additional tool and residents more dining out options.
The plan approved by the Council would allow establishments in eligible neighborhoods to first obtain a BYOB License from the BLB before allowing patrons to begin participating in the new BYOB ordinance. A fee of $300 will be assessed upon the granting of the license and must be renewed annually.
The new BYOB program would be highly regulated and patrons may only bring wine in containers no greater than 750 ml and malt beverages in containers no greater than 16 oz. and only a total amount up to 750 ml of wine or up to 72 ounces of malt beverages, or one six-pack of beer, per two people.
Also all new employees at establishments with a BYOB license must participate in an insurance industry-approved safe-service-of-alcohol training that can be done online. All current employees must complete the training within 14 days of the license being awarded.
“I see this as an opportunity to bring increased economic activity to neighborhoods across Boston and I thank the Licensing Board for taking up this measure that has great potential to make a positive impact on our city’s economic growth,” Mayor Walsh told local newspapers after the vote. “I look forward to reviewing the revised regulations that will be put forth by the Licensing Board in the coming months.”