The Lobster of Gloucester wins the city's last year round liquor license and can stay open all year once the state signs off

East Gloucester may have a place to eat and drink all winter. The Lobster of Gloucester, the seafood restaurant at 115 East Main St., has won the last year round all alcohol restaurant license the city had to give. The Licensing Board voted 3 to 0, from the meeting video, at a short special meeting on Monday, Oct. 26.

The restaurant, which holds the license under the name Rocky Neck Lobster Company II, has run on a seasonal license since it opened in May 2023. That license lets it serve drinks for part of the year, so it has closed for part of each winter. The new license has no season. It still needs approval from the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission before it takes effect.

What happened

• The board gave the city's one open year round all alcohol restaurant license to the Lobster, 3 to 0, from the meeting video.
• A competing bid from Gloucester Restaurant Group, which plans an Indian restaurant called Mehfil at 226 Washington St., failed 1 to 2. The board said that application was incomplete because neighbors were never notified, and that there was only one license to give.
• The Lobster's seasonal license runs through Jan. 15. The board's chair said she hopes the state finishes its review by then so the restaurant does not have to close.

Why the board picked the Lobster

Chair Melissa Teixeira Prince said both restaurants made good presentations, but the Mehfil application was not complete. She said the Lobster is a need in East Gloucester, that it is popular with families, and that the board has had no complaints about it since it opened. Residents who spoke at the Oct. 13 hearing said little stays open in East Gloucester in winter.

The restaurant made the same request in 2024 and lost out to Saltwater Grill. At the Oct. 13 public hearing, its lawyer said the owner employs 80 to 85 people in summer and 70 to 75 in the slower months and wants to keep them working all year. Four residents spoke in favor and no one spoke against. "You are the role model of how a restaurant should run," the chair told the owner then.

John Lamirande, the one member who voted for both petitions, said he hopes Mehfil's owners find a seasonal license or another opening and grow into a full license later, "similar to what the Lobster did."

About the restaurant

The Lobster sits on East Main Street, the road out to Rocky Neck, on the east side of Gloucester Harbor. On its website, the restaurant describes itself as three things in one: a take out counter, an eat in the rough spot and a full service tavern with cocktails, craft beer and wine. It says its seafood comes off its own boats, and that it serves lunch and dinner every day, with hours listed as 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Under the new license, the restaurant will also have to meet a rule the board adopted the same night: every license it renews for 2027 must come with an electronic ID scanner, kept up to date. The restaurant agreed at the Oct. 13 hearing to use one.

What was decided

• 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.

What happens next

• The board's clerk sends the license to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which does its own review. The chair hopes for an answer by the end of the year.
• The Lobster can serve under its seasonal license through Jan. 15. If the state approves in time, it would not have to close this winter.
• The city's two open year round beer and wine licenses are still available. The chair encouraged Mehfil to apply for one; she said a 2025 state change lets such a license be upgraded to all alcohol with the board's approval.

Where to find the records

• Revised agenda for the Oct. 26 special meeting.
• October 2026 Past Meetings, where the city posts the Zoom recording.
• The Lobster of Gloucester, the restaurant's website.

Earlier coverage: Rocky Neck Lobster gets Gloucester's last year round liquor license (Oct. 28), our notes on the full Oct. 26 meeting, including the ID scanner rule; Gloucester's last full liquor license: Rocky Neck Lobster vs. Mehfil (Oct. 16), the Oct. 13 hearing.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the Oct. 26 meeting online on the city's recording and read the restaurant's website. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the board's minutes confirm them. We have not spoken with the restaurant.