Gloucester Licensing Board Approves Masquerade Ball Permit, Downtown Restaurant Renewal

GLOUCESTER -- February 11, 2025, Gloucester Licensing Board clears four establishments at February meeting, including long-delayed 289 Main Street restaurant. The board voted unanimously on seven substantive actions Tuesday, approving a special one-day all-alcohol license for a Venetian Carnival masquerade ball at Hammond Castle Museum on March 1, with attorney Joel Favaza of Seaside Legal Solutions securing both a late renewal and an alteration-of-premises approval for Ranger QOF-MA LLC at 289 Main Street, the former Halibut Point space that has been under renovation for more than a year. Favaza committed on the record to an opening within 45 days of final ABCC sign-off, with a National Grid electrical service upgrade the only remaining variable. The board also approved routine renewals for Castaways Vintage Cafe LLC at 65 Main Street and a change of manager to Don Carraway, a 37-year hospitality industry veteran, at Rocky Neck Lobster Company Inc.'s The Lobster, 115 East Main Street, after owner Tessa Brown acknowledged the manager change had gone unreported for roughly 10 months past the required 30-day window.