The future of a controversial South Norwood watering hole hangs in the balance as the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) prepares to hold a hearing in Boston next week to review the licensing status of the Dealers’ Cafe.
The establishment has remained shuttered since the previous winter, prompting owner Kenneth Troiani of Nichols Street to make at least two unsuccessful attempts to sell the business. Both prospective sales collapsed when the Board of Selectmen refused to approve the necessary liquor license transfers.
The proposed re-openings—even under new management—drew fierce protests from South Norwood residents who argued they are overburdened by a heavy concentration of alcohol-serving venues in the neighborhood. Community spokesperson Emilie Moses noted that local residents would gladly support any buyer willing to relocate the Troiani business out of South Norwood, though no such proposals have materialized.
Meanwhile, Selectman William F. Butters, a vocal advocate for stricter limitations on town liquor permits, proposed leveraging the situation to relocate the dormant license away from residential South Norwood to the Route 1 commercial corridor. Butters suggested pressuring the Red Coach Grill restaurant chain to acquire the Dealers’ Cafe license for a new facility planned within developer Frank Simoni‘s new building at the Norwood Country Club. Simoni recently secured initial selectmen approval to subdivide his property to accommodate a second-story restaurant tenant, complementing the downstairs liquor license already secured for the country club.
Butters argued that by denying a fresh municipal license to Simoni’s prospective tenant, the board could compel incoming operators to purchase existing dormant licenses like Troiani’s, thereby reshaping the town’s liquor distribution. While Butters predicted the ABCC might either revoke the Dealers’ Cafe license or grant Troiani an extension at the August 28 hearing, he emphasized that a sale remains unlikely unless selectmen maintain strict restrictions on the issuance of new permits.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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