Boston’s Liquor License Law Will Benefit Black-Owned Restaurants

The City of Boston is on a mission to pass laws that Change the landscape of Black-owned restaurants in Black and Brown communities with a brand new liquor licensing law.

The bill, first introduced in April 2023, officially passed each chambers of the state House in late July. But since the bill has two different versions, its fate remains to be uncertain. Royal Smith, a member of the Boston Black Hospitality Coalition who’s pushing for the bill to turn into law, also operates District 7 Tavern in town’s Roxbury neighborhood. The Baystate Banner reports that he’s optimistic that lawmakers will do the proper thing by officially allowing restaurants to obtain a license to sell alcohol.

“I’m excited to see what form this takes,” he said. “It’s really, really going to grow the city. It’s going to provide neighborhoods that people want to walk to.”

Still, Smith is waiting for official approval from Gov. Maura Healey. If the Massachusetts governor signs the liquor license bill, “five restaurateurs in each of 13 predominantly Black and Brown ZIP codes each year for three years” in town could be eligible to get latest liquor licenses for his or her businesses. If the bill passes, about 200 latest liquor licenses could be available for establishments in those parts of town.

The following ZIP codes are affected: Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury, South End and West Roxbury.

“No matter where you live in the city, you should be able to go downstairs or up the block and have a good meal and a drink if you want to,” said state Sen. Liz Miranda, the bill’s sponsor within the Senate. She also represents Suffolk’s 2nd District, which incorporates parts of nine ZIP codes that will be affected by the laws.

“It’s about dreams becoming reality and about economic equality, racial equality, geographic equality,” she continued. “I think sometimes people get stuck on the word alcohol, and if you don’t like alcohol, you think that’s going to cause a lot of problems in our community, but it doesn’t.”

The neighborhoods in query have seen a decline in access to sit-down restaurants. Business owners are finding it difficult to remain in business without the advantage of alcohol sales.

They are unable to take care of transferable alcohol licenses, which cost roughly $600,000 on the secondary market.

For Smith, crucial thing is bringing more opportunities to Black and Brown neighborhoods across Boston, which is home to 2.1 times more white residents than every other race or ethnicity, in accordance with the 2022 Census report.

“There will be more options in Boston beyond Irish bars,” Smith said. “We want to make sure that for everyone who is affected by this bill, we’re not just opening up and then closing down. We want sustainability.”

He added: “If we do this right, it will ultimately change the Boston skyline.”