Pittsfield Licensing Board OKs East Side Outdoor Dining

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Licensing Board approved several business alterations on Monday, and two neighboring owners were able to step out and clarify the terms of outdoor seating. 

East Side Cafe secured outdoor table service in about 10 feet of property next to the longtime business.  Owner Marco Allessio said there will be a few tables with lattice fencing for privacy. 

His cousin, Amy Koenig, owner of Lakewood Creamery and an abutting residential property, had opposed the outdoor seating out of concern for her grandmother on Lombard Street, explaining, "If you stand in my grandmother's parlor, it's not even my wingspan from the property." 

She has owned the home since 2018, but her grandmother has lived there for about 70 years. They are members of the Capitanio family, who sold the business to Allessio, another relative, last fall. 

"While I certainly understand the allure of outdoor seating, and I understand the financial gains of outdoor seating, my family has owned, nearly 100 years, four generations, the East Side Cafe, and what has always been agreed upon is that there wouldn't be outdoor seating in those areas," she said. 

"… the trials and tribulations of owning a small business where you literally live on the property, there's noise, there's patrons, there's no privacy in the yard, and you take the good and the bad, because you own the business. Really not wanting to exacerbate it and have all of these patrons there with formalized alcohol service and food, really was something that my family avoided." 

"That was my original plan," Allessio explained. 

The board also approved: 

• A change of manager, a change of officers/director/LLC managers, and a change of name to Pittsfield Lodge No. 272 BPO Elks. This reflects the Adams Elks lodge merging with the Pittsfield Elks lodge. 
   
• Lodging house licenses for Side By Side Assisted Living Residence’s locations at 54-56 Gilbert St., 53 West Union St., and 55 West Union St. The facility applied for a lodging license after adding a bedroom and two bathrooms to 53 West Union St. and adding sprinkler systems to the other homes. 
   
• A downtown annual wine and malt restaurant license for Espetinho Carioca, located at 48B North St.
  
  "You may or may not know that this restaurant has been on North Street for about two years. It serves Brazilian food, and in that time has become really a hub of the large Brazilian community in Pittsfield," attorney Jesse Cook-Dubin said. 
  
  "They have never had a license to serve alcoholic beverages, and they would like one, because we know you cannot make money in this business without one. Right now, the only license available is one of the special downtown wine and malt licenses. So that will have to do for now." 

Pittsfield Remembers Lives Lost to Overdose, Underscores Harm Reduction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Mayor Peter Marchetti reads a proclamation at City Hall encouraging residents to raise awareness and lift each other up. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of people gathered downtown on Monday to remember those lost to overdose and work toward a future of zero deaths from substance use disorder. 

The Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its partners held a proclamation reading and flag-raising at City Hall, followed by a standout in Park Square with signs promoting the use of naloxone, harm reduction, and reducing associated stigma. 

There were 23 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2025, 11 in Pittsfield. This is down 44 percent from the 41 countywide fatalities in 2024. 

While it is a significant decrease, advocates want to see that number at zero. 

"On the one hand, we're very pleased to see this significant of a decrease. This is actually the lowest number that we've had since [Department of Public Health] started collecting these numbers in 2013, but the goal is still zero," said Andy Ottoson, public health planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. 

August is International Overdose Awareness Month, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those lost without stigma, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind. September is National Recovery Month, a national observance to educate the public on the importance of substance use treatment and mental health services.

Samantha Kendall of Berkshire Harm Reduction explained that it is truly meeting people where they are, as they are, and when they are, "and I think we all do a really great job at that."

"We also want to remember that we're building a community for everybody, and systems and policies for everybody. That's really important in harm reduction work, so that's also the reason we're here today," she said.