Board kneads to slice through pizza controversy in Fields Corner, where a Papa John's wants to move in

Update: Food-serving license approved.

The Boston Licensing Board could decide tomorrow whether to grant a food-serving license to a Papa John's franchisee for an outlet at 1501 Dorchester Ave. in Dorchester's Field's Corner.

Under the latest proposal by franchisees Joe and Ralonda Johnson, the outlet would be open between 10 a.m. and midnight Sunday through Thursday and between 10 a.m. and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

At an unusually spicy hearing today, the proposal by a New Jersey-based franchisee - but with a local manager who went to Burke High School - was met by opposition from a local business group and residents, who say they don't want some national chain with unhealthy food competing with home-grown small businesses in a neighborhood that already has more than enough pizza options. One of the opponents owns a pizza place across the street - and formerly rented the space where the Papa John's would go for a burger joint.

The Johnsons, though, countered that their food is a lot better for you than some of the stuff you can get elsewhere in the neighborhood. "Our opponents sell fried food," Joe Johnson said. "We don't sell anything fried." In fact, he continued, their pizzas are made with "from the vine into the can" sauce with no additives and are baked, not fried.

And he said the "public need" for a Papa John's - down the street from where another franchisee failed with the concept a few years ago - is not just the food but the fact that he, his wife and Tabb are all Black, in a state where Black and Brown restaurant ownership is far below the minority percentage of the population.

"Just as important as what's being sold is who's selling it," he said.

They said their proposed manager, Charles Tabb, is as local as you can get - he grew up in Dorchester, went to school there and still lives there, and will be a part owner. "I'm from the city and I worked so hard to get to where I'm at," Tabb said, adding all the opposition "is kind of heartbreaking to me."

Joe Johnson, who said his company has already poured $500,000 into the Fields Corner location, said that as he and his wife have grown their business to 23 franchises, they have developed a program to educate employees in franchising and to bring some on - such as Tabb, as partners in individual outlets.

However, as their lawyer, Dennis Quilty said, unlike with liquor licenses, food serving licenses do not require any showing of "public need," only that the restaurant will meet certain requirements for food preparation and running a decent operation.

Still Quilty said all the opposition to the proposal was being ginned up by Antonio's Hi-Fi owner Brian Chavez, whom he accused of being out to scuttle a competing pizza option, in part over bitterness of getting kicked out of his BosBurger space for failing to pay his rent.

Chavez, though, said he objects to "mischaracterization and outright lies," although he added, "this is not the forum for what would be a private business dispute."

He said his objection was simply that Fields Corner already has "a saturation of pizza" and Papa John's would have "no emphasis on healthy options." Sure, he admitted, he used to sell burgers out of the space, but his place also had "healthy options" on its menu and even offered fruit.

Ellen Schmarsow, president of Fields Corner Main Street, which advocates for local businesses, opposed the proposed Papa John's. She said the area needs locally owned businesses - and more fresh food - and that the Johnsons "have not been transparent" about their own personal location. "New Jersey does not count" as local, she said.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce started her questions by asking the Johnsons: "What is your response to the fact there are four other existing pizza places in the same general area?" She continued, however, that her main concern was with parking and congestion outside a place whose owners estimated 70% of their business would be takeout and delivery.

Joe Johnson said that while the outlet would allow third-party deliverers, he said it would concentrate on using its own employees to deliver orders, and that they would have a space in a parking lot out back.

Joyce said "times have changed," because the pandemic made third-party delivery far more common - and said a national chain such as Papa John's might spur even more delivery runs than a locally based outlet. She asked the Johnsons and Quilty to supply a written plan on how they will minimize potential traffic and parking issues - something the board now routinely asks eateries that plan to allow third-party delivery.

He and Quilty said they doubted traffic would be any worse outside the Papa John's than the previous BosBurger.