Rocky Neck Lobster gets Gloucester's last year round liquor license; the board tells Mehfil to try a beer and wine license it can upgrade

Gloucester's last year round all alcohol restaurant license is going to Rocky Neck Lobster Company II at 115 East Main St. The city's Licensing Board voted 3 to 0, from the meeting video, at a short special meeting on Zoom on Monday, Oct. 26.

The board then voted 2 to 1 against the competing petition from Gloucester Restaurant Group, which plans an Indian restaurant called Mehfil at 226 Washington St., because no license was left to give. Members urged Mehfil to apply instead for one of two open year round beer and wine licenses, which the chair said can now be upgraded to all alcohol with the board's approval.

What happened

• Rocky Neck Lobster Company II gets the annual all alcohol restaurant license, 3 to 0, from the meeting video. The state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission reviews the award next.
• The Mehfil petition failed 1 to 2, from the meeting video. Chair Melissa Teixeira Prince said the application was incomplete because neighbors were never notified before the Oct. 13 hearing, and that in any case the license was gone.
• Every license the board renews each year will have to come with an electronic ID scanner, starting with the 2027 renewals. The vote was 3 to 0, from the meeting video.

The last full license

The board advertised the one available license, took applications and held a public hearing on both petitions on Oct. 13. (Read what happened at that hearing.) On Monday it closed both hearings and went straight to a decision.

Prince said both applicants presented well. The Lobster, open since 2023, has applied for a year round license before, she said, and both of its hearings drew only support. She called the restaurant a need in East Gloucester, popular with families, with no complaints on its record. The Mehfil application, she said, was not complete because the abutter notices were not sent, so neighbors never had the chance to weigh in.

John Lamirande said the Indian restaurant had excited a lot of people and hoped its owners would seek a seasonal license or another opening and grow into a full license later, as the Lobster did. He voted yes on both petitions. Prince and the third member voted no on Mehfil's, which the chair said the board had to do once the license was awarded.

Prince told the Mehfil group that two year round beer and wine licenses are open. She said a state measure in June 2025 lets a beer and wine license be converted to all alcohol with the local board's approval, with the condition that it goes back to beer and wine when the restaurant stops using it and cannot be sold or moved as a full license. "I too would encourage them to apply," she said.

The Lobster is open until Jan. 15 on its seasonal license. The chair said she hopes the state's review is done by then so the restaurant can stay open all year. (Read more about the restaurant and what the license means for it.)

ID scanners for every renewal

The board has heard for months about fake IDs and underage drinking at local bars and package stores, Prince said. Rather than keep asking, it voted to write electronic ID scanners, and keeping their software up to date, into its rules as a condition of every license it renews each year, beginning with the 2027 renewals that go out next month.

The third member said scanners cost money and may be hard to get, and suggested giving license holders 60 to 90 days after renewal to comply. Prince said scanners she found online run about $700 to $1,500, with the pricier models updating themselves as fake IDs improve. The board narrowed the rule to annual licenses, so one day licenses for events like those at Stage Fort Park are not covered. The clerk said the renewal form will get a box for license holders to say they have a scanner or agree to buy one.

What was decided

• Close both public hearings: 3 to 0 each, from the meeting video.
• Rocky Neck Lobster Company II, change of class to the annual all alcohol restaurant license at 115 East Main St., Building 121: 3 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video.
• Gloucester Restaurant Group, doing business as Mehfil, new annual all alcohol license at 226 Washington St.: failed, 1 to 2 by roll call, from the meeting video.
• Electronic ID scanners and software upkeep as a condition of annual license renewals for 2027: 3 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video, after a 3 to 0 vote to limit it to annual licenses.
• Adjourn: 3 to 0, from the meeting video.

What happens next

• The clerk sends the Lobster's license to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for its review. The chair hopes for an answer by the end of the year.
• Renewal applications for 2027 go out next month. Each annual license holder will be asked whether it has an ID scanner or agrees to buy one.
• Mehfil can apply for one of the two open year round beer and wine licenses.

Where to find the records

• Revised agenda for the Oct. 26 special meeting.
• October 2026 Past Meetings, where the city posts the Zoom recording. Minutes will be posted in the Archive Center.
• Licensing Board page, with members.

Earlier coverage: Gloucester's last full liquor license: Rocky Neck Lobster vs. Mehfil (Oct. 16), the Oct. 13 hearing; Monday on Cape Ann (Oct. 23), the agenda for this meeting.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online on the city's recording. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the board's minutes confirm them. These are our meeting notes, not the board's minutes.