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Indian restaurant in Roslindale off to slow start; seeks beer and wine license
By adamg on Wed, 07/31/2013 - 11:07am
Shanti on Washington Street today asked the Boston Licensing Board for a beer and wine license to serve the people who are now getting their Indian food elsewhere because they want something more adult than soda.
"It's rather slow in that location," restaurant attorney Sean Hope told the board. Owner Solmon Chowdhury said he gets four or five calls a day from prospective diners asking whether they can get a beer or glass of wine with their meals at the new restaurant. Chowdhury has long operated another Shanti in Dorchester with a beer and wine license
Chowdhury is hoping the board has a license it can dole out, because he said it makes no economic sense for him to spend $100,000 or so on the open market for a beer and wine license for the restaurant, which has only 40 seats. The total number of liquor licenses in Boston is limited by state law.
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Comments
"Chowdhury is hoping the
"Chowdhury is hoping the board has a license it can dole out"
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Shanti is really good
This restaurant is really good, and I go there a lot, but I'd likely go more if they had a liquor license. Make it happen, Boston!
I agree, Shanti's food is quite good
One of the few Indian restaurants that makes things really spicy when I request them to be. I'll keep going there regardless of whether they get a beer and wine license.
olfactory fatigue
Am I the only one who noticed that this restaurant uses so much spices, you can smell it all over adams park? I love indian food but my daughter complains about the place.
Hey Chowdhury
If its doesn't make economical sense to purchase one then don't! If you think it would have a positive ROI, then buy one.
I can't wait to visit your place and tell you that is doesn't make any economical sense to pay my bill.
Non sequiter
Let's say he nets $2000/week right now without the beer/wine license. Let's say with the license he could double that to $4,000/week.
Even if he invested every penny of his profit into buying a $100,000 liquor license, it would take him 50 weeks, call it a year, to be able to afford one on the open market. It would take him another half a year after that to reach where he would have been in profit if he hadn't bought the license. So, it's 70-80 weeks before he'd break even and he'd only be doubling his profit every week after that for having bought it.
Now, scale that down just a step. He nets $1000/wk and doubles to $2000/wk in this new scenario. It's now 2 years before he can buy the license and another whole year, 3 years in total, before he'd break even. Some restaurants don't even know if they're going to make it through the next 6 months.
His other option is to have the city/state create a new license for him (costs them nothing, costs him only the fees to the state for acquiring a new license which are nowhere close to $100,000). That's what he's trying to do. He's doing the more economical thing...so why are you busting his balls?
I used to enjoy the pitchers
I used to enjoy the pitchers when it was Rialto or was it the Square Corner? I guess they sold the beer and wine license. I went to Shanti once, it was okay as Indian goes. Probably a bit overpriced for the location. The dining space is oddly laid out, we were caught between a draft and the kitchen traffic. The menu is way too long, you need like 15 minutes to get through it all. The kicker was how they screwed up an allergy notice. I had a bad feeling the waitress was just nodding along not understanding. Sure enough my kid got some naan bread that made him react, luckily he caught it before he went into shock. They were apologetic, but were evasive about what was in the bread. My wife said she'd go back, but I'm all set. It's just not the kinda joint where you'd want to have anything more than a glass of wine with dinner anyways.
Beer is a perfect match with Indian food
but the problem for Shanti in my opinion is that it's not as good as either Bhukara or Himalayan Bistro. If I didn't live so close to Shanti, I'd see no reason to pick it over the options in JP or West Roxbury. I like the space, and the menu has the right items, they just aren't quite as tasty.
Shanti is great!
While it would probably be good for Shanti's business to get an alcohol license, I still go there regardless. I just pick up beer or wine at Alex's or Solera beforehand, and have at it. It actually makes the meal way cheaper that way, being BYOB. Also, they'll give you a pint glass or wine glass for what you brought.
But anyway, I think the food is awesome. In my opinion, it's clearly superior to Bukhara and Ghazal. Also, they don't have the "same menu" that 90% of Indian places seem to have. I mean, they have main-stays like Aloo Gobi, but there is some "giving a damn" going on. At least, that's my take. Also, I've found the service to be good. It's attentive, but not overly-so, like refilling water glasses every 45 seconds or annoying BS like that, which I've encountered at both JP places.
This guy doesn't deserve a
This guy doesn't deserve a liquor license. Have you read about all the drunk patrons causing public nuisance in his other businesses- Om and Moksa?
According to the Licencing
According to the Licencing Board of Boston, Shanti has been approved for a Beer & Wine Licence.