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Date: 6/6/2023
AMHERST — The June 1 meeting of the Board of License Commissioners focused largely on the extension of late-night hours and the potential addition of service for lunch carts and food trucks in the downtown area.
Outside The Spoke across from Kendrick Park, patrons there can often find Rooster’s Roaming Cantina’s mobile restaurant. Omar Cruz told the board that people are often waiting for him when he rolls up on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 8:30 and 9 p.m.
“The college kids are very, very happy and the spot we have is very convenient,” he said. “They order and sit down, they are very happy to see me there.”
Food service continues until about 2 a.m..
Commission members inquired regarding any current issues or complaints as a result of the location or the later hours.
Cruz told the board that aside from an occasional intoxicated person or some trash in the area, which he picks up, he has not heard any complaints. The board was also informed that police or inspections staff members have not received any objections.
Amanda O’Connor, also with Rooster’s Roaming Cantina, said the customers are for the most part very kind and polite and the word is getting passed around.
“We started out with about 50 kids coming per night and now it’s got to be almost 200 kids,” she said. “They stand in line, they wait, they’re happy and they’re eating.”
Commissioner Gaston de los Reyes asked about the current parking location of the food truck as well as the viability of accommodating other food service vehicles in the adjacent area.
“I think one of the concerns we had last time was thinking about what’s the ideal location for the trucks especially thinking about particularly drunk college students crossing streets and so on,” he said.
Cruz responded in favor of the current parking location across the street from The Spoke as far as the patrons lining up and congregating in the park as opposed to the sidewalk.
“(If it was) closer to the bar they would leave trash all over there,” he told the board. “So, when they come to me, they eat on the grass, they stay there, maybe sober up a little bit, they leave the stuff there, I pick up the trash and put it right in the trash. I think the space where we are is one of the nicest spaces, we can get for parking right in the common,” he added.
O’Connor followed in agreement, telling the commission members that The Spoke lets bar patrons out uniformly and in groups to go across the street to the truck where they can take advantage of the open, grassy space.
“Even if they get a little bit more rowdy, I feel it’s safer for them to be a little rowdy on the grass than on the sidewalk pushing each other closer to the traffic,” she said.
In terms of parking availability and space for other vendors, both Cruz and O’Connor agreed that the size of the other trucks would be a factor. They also told the board that with UMass out for the summer, they will base their own late-night service upon need before picking up the late hours when students return.
Following discussion, the board voted to maintain the late hours for food trucks belonging to Rooster’s Roaming Cantina, Thai Chili Food Hub and Ice Cream Emergency. Space and parking locations for additional mobile vendors in other downtown areas will also be part of ongoing discussions.
Addressing other business, the board also reviewed and approved applications for special short term liquor licenses for the Worcester Dining Commons at UMass.
Citing information from a recent Boston Globe editorial, Commissioner de los Reyes introduced discussion about the viability of a town restriction or ban on small liquor bottles known as nips. Calling attention to issues like litter and the actions of other municipalities within Massachusetts, de los Reyes raised the question of jurisdiction, licensing and whether such a move would be in the town’s interest.
The board set their next meeting for Thursday, June 8.