WORCESTER—Two proposed downtown restaurants may lose their liquor licenses because they’ve failed to open for more than a year, Worcester license commissioners said on Thursday.
The former Irish Times at 244 Main St., was issued a restaurant all-alcohol license and an entertainment license in August of 2018 but the five-story building remains shuttered with brown paper covering the windows.
Commissioners learned that KKAP, LLC, which owns the building, has not opened the restaurant in more than a year. In fact, it appears it has never opened since being issued a liquor license in 2018.
During the license commission meeting on Aug. 16, 2018, for the initial issuance of the licenses, Krock’s lawyer Jonathan Finkelstein “stated that the first and second floors will be a restaurant, third and fourth will be for entertainment and fifth floor and basement will be for alcohol storage,” city records show.
The commission toured the building before a license status hearing in April of 2022 and heard from owner Katie Krock that the first and second floors of the 5-story building would be used as a restaurant.
At that time, Krock said she planned extensive renovations. Her lawyer, Jonathan Finkelstein, said she hoped to open by October.
In June, Deborah Steele, principal staff assistant in City Hall, told commissioners that Krock planned to surrender her license and that she would apply for a new license later.
But Krock then renewed the license and now risks losing it because the business has not opened.
The Krock family originally purchased the building that housed Irish Times at auction in 2017, reported the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Irish Times originally shuttered in 2008 after it was foreclosed upon.
Commissioners said this week that they will meet Jan. 4 to decide whether to revoke the license for suspension of business.
Neither Krock, nor her lawyer, attended Thursday’s meeting.
Shaking Crab, 554 Main St., is also facing a revocation of their liquor license. That restaurant cited issues with their ventilation system and landlord over the summer but as of this week, still has not opened despite holding the liquor license for more than a year.
No one representing Shaking Crab attended Thursday’s meeting.
Kim Ring fell into journalism in the 1980s as a correspondent at the Telegram & Gazette and eventually left her initial career to pursue reporting full-time. In her years of writing, she has penned articles for several Massachusetts-based publications, taking a brief hiatus to work as chief of staff for a state representative. She can be reached at Kimringwrites@gmail.com
