Boston council panel advances plan to let restaurants convert beer-wine permits to full liquor

BOSTON -- September 22, 2025, Boston's City Council Committee on Government Operations advanced a measure that would allow the city's roughly 350 beer-and-wine restaurant licensees to convert to full all-alcohol permits for as little as $470 upfront and $1,000 more per year in renewal fees. Committee Chair Gabriela Coletta Zapata presided over the September 22 hearing on Docket 1411, a local option under a 2024 state law sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu. Kathleen Joyce of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing and Licensing Board Executive Secretary Daniel Green told councillors the conversion process involves a two-page application, a public hearing before the licensing board, and ABCC approval, and that the board could begin taking applications "immediately" after adoption. Three restaurant owners testified in support, including Mimi and Jason Chan of Dynasty in Chinatown and Jennifer Matarazzo of Little Sage in the North End, while Ixchel Garcia of Angela's Cafe in Orient Heights raised concerns about the non-transferable nature of converted licenses for businesses that lease their space or borrowed against the value of an existing permit. No formal vote was taken; Coletta Zapata said she expects the full council to move "expeditiously," potentially within weeks.