Dot. Ave. restaurants slapped for surreptitious beer drinking by patrons

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday ordered license suspensions for two Vietnamese restaurants where police found customers with beer in tea cups, because neither place has a license to serve beer.

Thao Ngoc Restaurant, 1331 Dorchester Ave., will have to shut for two days for what turned out to be its third violation since July 1. At a hearing Tuesday, a BPD detective testified that at a surprise inspection, he found a table with beer in both a teapot and tea cups.

Both police and a licensing-board member used the word "dumbfounded" to describe the Nov. 14 violation, given that the restaurant had been caught twice before for the same exact thing.

Tri Seafood Restaurant, 1616 Dorchester Ave., received a one-day suspension. The restaurant had asked for leniency after its attorney had the man caught with beer in tea cups testify that he snuck a beer bottle in his jacket and poured the beer into the cups after he was sure the waitress was not looking.

In both cases, a BPD detective said he inspected the restaurants due to complaints from the public to District C-11 about alcohol consumption at them.

The City Council next week could vote on a measure, sponsored by Councilors Michelle Wu and Steve Murphy, to let small restaurants without alcohol licenses in neighborhoods such as Dorchester apply for BYOB permits.