Chelsea’s Licensing Commission on Thursday night suspended the liquor license of Chelsea Walk, the bar at 416 Broadway, for 10 days, with five days to be served starting Monday, November 16, after police showed video of a woman drinking at least four shots in 21 minutes on a night in July. Torito Restaurant and Lounge, 73 Winnisimmet Street, did not face its hearing at all: its owner has agreed to close after business on Monday and put its liquor license up for sale.
This account is drawn from the city’s recording of the November 12 meeting on Chelsea Community Cable. We previewed both hearings earlier this week. The commission’s written decisions have not been posted.
Torito: closing Monday, license to be sold
The disciplinary hearing for Axe Entertainment, Inc., which does business as Torito, was put on hold after a letter arrived the morning of the meeting from the company’s lawyer to City Solicitor Cheryl Watson Fisher. The letter, read into the record by the licensing department, asked for more time so the company can place its all-alcohol license on the market for sale to a third party.
In exchange, the company committed to:
- Close no later than 11 p.m. each night from November 12 through November 16.
- Cease all business and close the premises at the end of business on Monday, November 16.
- Stay closed until the commission approves either a sale and transfer of the license to a new owner, or a change or clarification of the company’s ownership “to the commission’s satisfaction,” along with resolution of the pending disciplinary matters.
- Hand the license to its lawyer to be held in escrow starting November 17.
The licensing department said Chelsea police will stop by to make sure the bar closes at 11 each night. The commission took no vote. The city’s assistant solicitor said the city solicitor’s view is that the disciplinary case is simply held in abeyance while the license sits in escrow, and commissioners were told that if Torito breaks those terms, it will be back before them quickly. Chair Marnie MacAlpine said the case would return if the sale does not go through.
Because the hearing never opened, the conduct behind the 16 rule sections listed on the agenda was not described in public.
Chelsea Walk: what the video showed
A Chelsea police officer summarized the report on the night of July 29. An officer working in Bellingham Square was flagged down by a woman who said a heavily intoxicated woman near Chelsea Walk was surrounded by several men and needed help. Inside, the officer found men holding the woman up to keep her from falling off her chair. She could not give her full name or date of birth. EMS took her to the Cambridge Health Alliance hospital in Everett, and officers handcuffed her on the stretcher for her own safety after she tried to get off it, the report says. She was taken into protective custody.
The bartender told police she had been there since about 5 p.m. and had five to six beers and five to six shots. The bar’s own video, which police showed to the commission, has her walking in at about 6:31 p.m. and reaching her fourth beer by 7:05. Shots were served to her at 9:09, 9:15, 9:25, about 9:26 and 9:30, and at least four of them were seen being drunk. Nothing in the record shows she was ever cut off.
No one from the bar called for help; police came because another person flagged them down. Chelsea Walk sells no food and does not hold the common victualler license it would need to serve it. The video did show the bartender coming out from behind the bar to move the woman away from the men around her and staying with her until the ambulance came. One commissioner called that the only positive thing in the videos.
While reviewing the footage, police also found five instances of a pitcher of beer served to a single customer, which the city’s rules forbid. The rules allow pitchers only for two or more people.
A representative of the owner, Fannies Place, Inc., told the commission the facts in the police report are true. He said the woman is now barred from the bar for good, customers are limited to three drinks, and he spends 40 to 60 hours a week there. Officer Santiago of the police department told the commission the bar has been clean on his inspections, there have been no calls, and the operator calls him and pulls video whenever there is an incident.
The vote and the conditions
The commission voted unanimously that Chelsea Walk violated Rule 2.08(p), sale to an intoxicated person, and Rule 2.08(c)(6), pitcher service to fewer than two people. Under the progressive discipline plan the commission adopted this spring, each falls in the “significant” category, with up to five days of suspension per violation.
The assistant solicitor listed aggravating factors: a three-week suspension for over-serving in 2019, the number of drinks sold, the woman’s hospitalization and protective custody, the five pitcher sales and the fact that no employee called for help. He also noted mitigation, including the owner’s agreement to the facts and willingness to take whatever steps the commission required. A 2023 case ended with a suspension, a required fix to the video system and closing time rolled back to 11 p.m., according to the bar’s disciplinary history read at the hearing.
The bartender’s alcohol-service certification presented at the hearing was issued October 6, after the July incident, and another employee’s had expired September 18. A certificate for a second bartender was not provided.
The penalty, approved on a voice vote with no opposition heard:
- 10-day suspension: five days served Monday, November 16, through Friday, November 20, with the bar closed and police helping secure the liquor.
- Five days held in abeyance for 12 months. A new violation in that year would bring those days back, plus any penalty for the new case.
- Within 30 days: proof of current alcohol-service (TIP) certification for every employee who serves, a written alcohol service policy signed by each employee, delivered to the licensing department.
- Signs in the bar saying pitchers are served only to two or more customers.
Commissioners also asked the city’s Inspectional Services Department to check the bar’s posted occupancy, which they said is far too low for the size of the room.
Also approved
- Polish Political Club, 58 Broadway: the club’s president is now its license manager, replacing a manager who moved out of the city. A longtime member told the commission the club was founded by Chelsea’s Polish community in 1912. The commission asked that the new manager complete alcohol-service training.
- Kushala Sip, 140 Pearl Street: the owner becomes manager, and the license hours were extended to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday, and 10 p.m. Sunday, from 9 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. on weekends. The owner said the lounge opens late mostly for reservations and events such as comedy nights and flamenco shows. The assistant solicitor told the commission that Rule 2.17 asks license holders to operate substantially the hours on their license, but closing an hour or two early on a slow night is not a violation; a business that plans to close for several days should tell the licensing department.
- TownePlace Suites by Marriott, 30 Eastern Avenue: the hotel’s new general manager was approved as manager. The hotel sells beer and wine at the front desk, and he said its bar, closed for some time, is expected to reopen in the second quarter of 2027.
The licensing department reminded license holders that liquor, entertainment, common victualler and other licenses expire December 31 and renewal applications are due now. The commission’s next meeting is Thursday, December 10.