Hudpuckers Gets Entertainment License, Extended Hours on Opening Day
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On its opening day, the Licensing Board granted Wahconah Street's new restaurant an extension of hours and entertainment license.
Hudpuckers Pub and Grill opened on Monday in the former Tahiti Takeout. The name is a nod to Bobby Hudpuckers, a popular eatery that closed more than 10 years ago.
"It's going smoothly," manager Justin Martin said to the board about five hours into the first day.
The eatery was approved for alcoholic beverage service until midnight. Currently, it is open daily at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. on weekdays and at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The board also OKed an entertainment license for Hudpuckers, granting it the possibility to host live music.
"We just want to have it in case we were thinking about down the road doing maybe some live music or something like that," Martin explained. "And we obviously don't have a jukebox in there now but in case we do put one in there or whatever, people can play music and all that stuff."
Earlier this year, Tahiti Takeout's license was transferred to Hudpuckers Inc. and the restaurant was granted a Keno license.
Also on Monday, Old Man Jeff's barbecue restaurant, which opened in the former Portsmitt's Lakeway Restaurant last year, was granted a Keno license from the board.
Owner Jeffrey Yeager reported that the Pecks Road eatery is doing very well and it has been a great first year of business.
"Our customers would like Keno," he explained. "As much as I like to think food is enough to entertain them, TVs, but they've been asking for that and I decided to do it."
Chairman Thomas Campoli commented that there is nothing wrong with giving the people what they want.
"By the way, our involvement in these things is very limited," he added. "We get notice from the Mass State Lottery Commission of this and if we want we can object and go jump through a lot of hoops."
A change of manager, ownership interest, and pledge of license for Hot Plate Brewery was also approved. The downtown establishment opened early this year and has paid back the company that financed it, meaning that co-founder Sarah Real is now the full owner.
Attorney Jesse Cook-Dubin explained that it was a legal complexity.
"This was anticipated just because of the way the project was financed," he said.
"The application makes this kind of unnecessarily complex but just to explain what's going on here, the way that the project was financed was Allegrone, which is both the landlord and the contractor who did all the build-out in that space, initially financed the construction expense and so Allegrone was an 82 percent owner and the manager of the LLC but always knowing that there would be a bank that came in to repay that investment and the bank was MassDevelopment and that closing has happened and so now that those funds were used to repay Allegrone and now Sarah is the 100 percent owner and manager."
The meeting began on a somber note as it was announced that board member Richard Stockwell passed away less than a week prior on September 27. It was just weeks after celebrating his 80th birthday.
A moment of silence was held for the late vice chairman.
"Before our usual business on behalf of the board I want to express how saddened we are by the passing of Vice Chairman Dick Stockwell," Campoli said.
"What a wonderful man. Dick was always respectful of those that came before our board. He brought sound judgment, fairness, and occasionally some humor to the matters that came before us. Dick became a close friend of mine from our time on this board and I'm going to miss them. I know everybody on this board is going to miss them so God bless you Dick Stockwell and may you rest in peace."
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