Boston Distributes 64 New Free Liquor Licenses. What Impact Are They Making?

Biplaw Rai and Nyacko Pearl Perry of Dorchester's Comfort Kitchen are reaping the benefits of a new liquor license they received from the city of Boston. They're not the only ones enjoying the business benefits of holding this license.

According to a Boston Globe report, 64 liquor licenses have been approved to date across 14 neighborhoods, per the Boston Licensing Board. Fourteen licenses were issued to Dorchester, along with 11 in East Boston, 10 in Jamaica Plain, six in Roslindale, and five each in Roxbury and the South End.

The new licenses enable small business restaurants and community organizations that had long been deterred from buying a costly liquor license to get one for free. Meanwhile, others who held beer-and-wine permits could upgrade to permits that allowed them to pour cocktails.

These licenses started to flow freely following the passage of legislation in 2024 that authorized 225 new liquor licenses for Boston.

Writing for The Boston Globe, columnist Shirley Leung noted, "Unlike the old system that required restaurant owners to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a license from a shuttered restaurant, the new licenses are given out for free. And most are tied to 13 ZIP codes that could use the economic boost of sit-down restaurants, including Mattapan, Roxbury, and Hyde Park. These so-called restricted licenses can't be bought or sold and must be returned to the city after a business closes."

For several decades in Boston, demand for liquor licenses outpaced supply due to state caps on the number of licenses the city can issue. When the city has exhausted its supply of free licenses, restaurateurs must buy one from another establishment that has closed. That scarcity results in prices over $600,000. The 2024 release of licenses, however, has lowered the cost to approximately $525,000 for individuals who still need to purchase them, according to The Boston Globe.