Select Board Signs Off on Liquor Licenses for Los Tres Compadres, Brothers, Taste of Himalayas

Cyber assessment wrapping up, Shell and Wamesit Lanes to appear in September on underage sales violations plus more takeaways

The Select Board met last night without member Jayne Wellman.

David Castro appeared with attorney Michael Vigorito for Los Tres Compadres, the Mexican eatery opening at 1777 Main St., the former Bobby & Jack’s Memphis Barbecue. The new restaurant is by the owners of the 3 Amigos Bar & Grill at 375 Main St. in Malden. 

3 Amigos LLC purchased Bobby & Jack’s assets, including most equipment and fixtures and the liquor license, for $290,000. The current lease is set to expire Jan. 30, 2027, with a five-year right-of-first-refusal extension option. The executive chef is currently employed at the restaurant’s Malden location and has experience at Boston’s Temazca Tequila Cantina.

Member Mark Kratman suggested that the restaurant install a card reader.

“We get so many universities around here, with the kids getting fake IDs and everything else,” said Kratman. “The police will be checking. They will come in.” 

The Select Board unanimously awarded a common victualler license and approved the liquor license transfer. A spokesman said they hope to be open by October.

Kayla Perry O’Donnell and Peter Tsianakas returned for Brothers Sports Bar & Grille, seeking a liquor license transfer and an entertainment license. Brothers has a location in Dracut and is in the process of purchasing and rebranding the Skybox at 553 Main St. BSB&G will pay $190,000 for Skybox’s assets, including the liquor license and many fixtures in the 7,300 square foot restaurant. 

For entertainment, they applied to have TVs as well as streaming and live acoustic music several times per month, ending at midnight. O’Donnell shared the music schedule at the Dracut location and said programming in Tewksbury would be similar. Tsianakas said the current stage will be removed and any live acts will set up in the area where amplifiers are now stored. There is trivia at the Dracut location, and they plan to also have this programming in Tewksbury. 

O’Donnell said all servers are TIPS certified, and she is normally on site. There have not been any incidents with serving alcohol at the Dracut location.

The liquor transfer was approved unanimously. The transfer of the common victualler license has been tabled so Skybox can continue operating; once the state approves the liquor license transfer, the two will come back before the board to apply for that license and begin renovations. Tsianakas previously said a November or December opening is planned.

Sukhvinder Singh, owner of Taste of the Himalayas at 1921 Main St., appeared seeking a new all-alcohol liquor license for his 37-seat restaurant. At the last Select Board meeting, that request was tabled, while the common victualler license was approved unanimously. Singh now has several TIPS certified staff members and a plan for where alcohol will be stored. The liquor license was approved unanimously.

Taste of the Himalayas was previously Saffron Indian Grill but pivoted after Covid to a new concept. 

Special Town Meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 3. Town Manager Richard Montuori said that he put forward the wrong date for Special Town Meeting, which is traditionally on Tuesday, not Monday. Montuori also suggested holding this year’s STM at the Center Elementary School, but the board thought that may lead to confusion. The meeting will remain at the high school, at least for this year. The 2024 STM may shift to the Center School.

Next, the board filled open seats on a number of boards and committees. All votes were unanimous.

Conservation Commission: Linda Darveau, a retired EPA environmental scientist with 32 years’ experience, was appointed to the Conservation Commission seat vacated by Patrick Holland when he was elected to the Select Board.
Economic Development: Bryanna Makumbi was appointed to one of the six open seats. Makumbi is an analyst with Morgan Stanley.
Historic Commission: Ryan Lloyd was appointed to the one open seat; Lloyd also serves on the Tewksbury Housing Authority, having been elected in April.
Local Historic District Study Committee: Alex Pratt was appointed to this committee. Pratt is retired and holds a BA in political science.
Massachusetts Cultural Council: There are 11 open seats. No residents applied.
Tewksbury Beautification Committee: Boris Pejic, a systems engineer, will fill the one open spot on this committee, which is hosting a popup cleanup event on Saturday.
Tewksbury Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee: Maureen Kelledy, who is employed by the state as a strategy manager at DHCD, and Makumbi were appointed to open seats on the TDEIAC. There were eight applicants for that committee.

Chair Todd Johnson remembered Arthur Costa, a 33-year resident who was a veteran and who served on many town organizations and committees. Costa passed away on July 19 at the age of 75.

Town Clerk Denise Graffeo put forward a list of election staff appointments and election police officer assignments for 2023 and 2024. 

“We’ve had some new people come in since COVID,” said Graffeo. “We really have a very strong election team that we should be proud of.”

The board approved the staffing request unanimously. They also transferred authority to implement election day police details to TPD Chief Ryan Columbus.

The Shell Station on Main St. and Wamesit Lanes will come before the Select Board on Sept. 12 for liquor license violation hearings, according to Montuori. The Tewksbury Police Department regularly runs compliance checks, after notifying establishments that sell or serve alcohol that such checks will be forthcoming.

A $50 donation has been made to the Tewksbury Senior Center in memory of Marjorie Moulaison. The board voted unanimously to accept the gift.

After approving town counsel invoices and several sets of minutes, Vice-Chair James Mackey thanked Montuori and town staff for assisting in a cybersecurity assessment. 

“For the past week and a half we have had the Massachusetts Army National Guard conducting a cyber assessment on the town,” said Mackey, who has worked for some time to bring the Guard in to do this work. “That has been going very well thanks to the support of Mr. Montuori and our IT director as well as various other members of the town staff. [The assessment] will be wrapping up soon, and we’re very appreciative of the assistance from the Massachusetts Army National Guard for that service.”

There were no other member reports. The next Select Board meeting will be Sept. 12, 2023.