PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Licensing Board on Monday approved extended liquor service hours for one restaurant while postponing decisions on two other high-profile cases, including an alleged underage drinking incident that could impact a downtown bar’s license.
Board members unanimously granted OMJ LLC, doing business as Old Man Jeff’s, permission to begin serving alcohol at 8 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays. “We’re asking to have our liquor hours moved or adjusted to 8 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays, which I believe are the earliest hours available,” owner Jeff Jaeger told the board. Chairman Thomas Campoli called the request “self-explanatory and within the legal confines,” before the board voted to approve.
A scheduled discussion on the status of Chili’s Grill & Bar’s dormant liquor license was tabled for the second time after no representative appeared. “He did say that he would be here,” Campoli noted, adding that the license has now been inactive for nearly a year. The board voted to continue the matter to August.
The most contentious item was a show cause hearing for Zuke’s Soups and Variety LLC, doing business as Bei Tempi, following allegations that the bar served alcohol to an 18-year-old on June 21, leading to the teen’s arrest hours later. Pittsfield Police Capt. Matthew Hill testified that the complaint originated with a voicemail from Sarah Stein, the teen’s mother, who alleged her son “had been served alcohol to the point of intoxication” at Bei Tempi.
Stein told the board her son came home at 1:30 a.m. “highly intoxicated, standing over me demanding my cellphone because he lost his,” which led to a violent altercation and a police response. She said his friends later confirmed they had been at Bei Tempi and that the teen’s phone was retrieved there the next morning. “There are laws in place for a reason,” Stein said. “Hold them accountable.”
A key focus of the hearing was the discovery of two cell phones at Bei Tempi after the June 21 night in question. Owner Elizabeth Zucco testified that one phone was found inside the bar’s restroom, while the other was located outside in the parking lot alongside a vape device and empty beer bottles. “There were two phones found, not one,” Zucco told the board. “One was found in the parking lot with a vape, the phone and garbage and empty Corona bottles. Another one was found in the restroom.”
When Stein called the bar the next morning, Zucco said she explained she had “two phones here” and asked her to identify which belonged to her son. Stein told the board she called her son’s number, which rang through to one of the devices in the bar. “It said ‘Mom’ on the screen, and then she gave me my son’s phone,” Stein testified.
Zucco denied serving minors and said the bar has strict ID checks and two doormen on entertainment nights. She acknowledged the phone was found at the premises but argued, “If there is ever a minor in my establishment drinking, I’m going to be extremely upset. We are carding every individual that comes in that place.”
A lack of surveillance footage complicated the case. Zucco said the bar’s security system only retains about three weeks of video, and by the time she learned of the allegation, the June 21 footage had been overwritten. “It seems like you had enough time to at least weed out most people and say maybe it’s one of these 10,” board member Kathy Amuso said, calling the missing video “problematic.”
The board voted unanimously to continue the hearing until its next meeting on Aug. 25, requesting any additional evidence from both the Pittsfield Police Department and the bar. “If we get information then, we have more information to make a decision on. And if we don’t, then we make a decision in a month,” said board member Dennis Powell.
A separate show cause hearing for Methuselah Bar and Lounge was also postponed to August at the joint request of the bar and Pittsfield Police, pending review of body camera and video evidence.
Editor’s Note: This article is based on the July 28 broadcast of the Pittsfield Licensing Board and was written in part using ChatGPT. To view the entire program, visit https://pittsfieldtv.org/program/?id=54195
