Court Ruling Cuts COVID Funding For MA Restaurants | Eat Mass

MASSACHUSETTS — Welcome to the third edition of Eat Mass, Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts. Scroll down for more, including:

• This week's restaurant openings and closings in Massachusetts.
• A federal court ruling last month means the U.S. Small Business Administration has to halt payments to 2,965 business owners who had already been approved for loans under the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
• Most — but not all — Boston-area food halls have reopened as the pandemic winds down.
• Which pandemic food shopping trends are here to stay?

This Week's Top Story

A federal court ruling last month means the U.S. Small Business Administration has to halt payments to 2,965 business owners who had already been approved for loans under the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

The lawsuits filed by plaintiffs in Texas and Tennessee argued the 21-day prioritization period of women and socially or economically disadvantaged applicants was discriminatory. A Sixth Circuit court panel ruled the provision was unconstitutional on May 28. The SBA notified affected business owners about the court's decision over the weekend.

"The SBA will not pay these claims because the legal conclusions in these court rulings would preclude payment," SBA said in its note, a copy of which was obtained by Nation's Restaurant News. "SBA’s leadership is frustrated with this outcome and remains committed to doing everything we can to support disadvantaged businesses getting the help they need to recover from this historic pandemic."

The fund has about $1.1 billion left to distribute. A bill has been introduced in Congress that would add $60 billion to the fund, which was approved during the pandemic to help struggling restaurants.

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Restaurant Openings, Closings

• Brighton: A virtual sake pop-up, the Koji Club, will open a sake bar at the under-construction Speedway marketplace.
• Cambridge: Central Squares Cantab Lounge will reopen under new ownership.
• Charlton: Good news for central Massachusetts beer lovers. Tree House Brewing recently reopened its sprawling campus for sit-down service for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began more than a year ago. The 110-acre Charlton facility was open for curbside pickup of canned beer, coffee and merchandise over the past year, but beer lovers couldn't stay to have a pint or two on the premises.
• Chelmsford: There are only six Einstein Brothers stores remaining in Massachusetts after the Chelmsford store closed. Five of the remaining locations are on college campuses.
• Grafton: Houlden Farm at 139 Old Westboro Road has joined forces with the team behind Boston pizza restaurant, Flatbread Company, to debut The Sunflower Shanty, an outdoor beer garden and pizza concept that operates on weekends throughout the summer season. The six-tap beer garden was hand-built from a storage container and is situated within the sunflower fields at Houlden Farm.
• Hingham: A seasonal beer garden will open at the Derby Street Shops on June 18. Untold Brewing, which has a brewery in Scituate, will be open Friday through Sunday throughout the summer.
• Malden: Local restaurant chains 110 Grill and Evviva Trattoria opened at Exchange 200 in Malden Center Wednesday. It will be the 35th location of 110 Grill and fifth of Evviva Trattoria, both Westford-based restaurant brands.
• Medford: A new family-run pizzeria is now open in South Medford. Granvitor's Pizza opened earlier this month in the former Toni's By George location on Main Street.
• Natick: The enormous Level99 immersive gaming center opened Monday at the Natick Mall, offering visitors a football-field sized entertainment experience and a Night Shift Brewing taproom and restaurant. The 48,000 square-foot Level99, located on the top floor of the former Sears space, is packed with games like escape rooms, scavenger hunts and arenas where game players can compete against each other. There are over 40 rooms to choose from.
• Newton: Clover Food Lab is slated to open its doors at TRIO in Newton in July. Since 2008, the vegetarian fast-food restaurant has grown from a food truck to a dozen locations across Greater Boston. This will be its first location in Newton. And Ward 4 is scheduled to open Thursday in the Auburndale neighborhood.
• Randolph: The owner of Fred's Seafoods is retiring, meaning the restaurant is shutting down permanently.
• Somerville: A fifth-generation Somerville family is opening a 400-seat Italian restaurant at 519 Broadway. Premiere on Broadway will have a show business theme, complete with celbrity portrats and a stage.
• Sudbury: The former 29 Rustic space on Hudson Road will be the new location for Sobre Mesa. The Mexican restaurant hopes to be open by late summer.
• Watertown: Local celebrity Chef Jason Santos plans to expand Buttermilk & Bourbon to Watertown's Arsenal Yards in mid-July.
• Weston: A breakfast and lunch spot that opened in 1952 is closing. Ye Olde Cottage Restaurant will serve its last meal by the end of the month.

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Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Eat With Your Eyes

Local celebrity Chef Jason Santos (above) plans to expand Buttermilk & Bourbon to Watertown's Arsenal Yards in mid-July. Known for popping in on "Bar Rescue," chef Santos included southern staples on his menu with his creative spin on some of New Orleans' classics. (Courtesy photo, Buttermilk & Bourbon)

More Massachusetts Food News

Most Boston-area food halls have reopened: But not all —Hub Hall, part of the Hub on Causeway development next to TD Garden, and High Street Place, a few blocks from South Station, were both scheduled to open just before the pandemic started, according to Boston Business Journal. Neither has announced a reopening date.

Coffee shop owner supports workers' efforts to unionize: "I went to my desk and read a notice that every small business owner dreads: My employees wanted to form a union. I had a sinking feeling in my chest — largely because we are still nowhere close to having recovered from the pandemic. But when I took a breath and thought about it for a moment, I knew I had to support them," Pavement Coffeehouse owner Larry Margulies writes in a commentary for GBH.

Cold war: J.P. Licks owes $282,000 in back rent on its headquarters and flagship store in Jamaica Plain, according to a lawsuit filed by Zooephebe Realty Trust, which owns the Centre Street property. And, oh yeah, the landlord is the ex-wife of the ice cream store's owner.

Quick bites: Woburn wants to make outdoor dining rules adopted during the pandemic permanent....Westford Town Meeting rejected a proposal that would have allowed drive-thru windows at restaurants...Spending on food prepared at home, which topped spending on food at restaurants in 2020 for the first time since 2014, is likely to continue to outpace prepared food spending in 2021...A Framingham restaurant is offering a $1,000 bonus to new hires.

Check, Please

Supermarket News has more on these numbers, including which pandemic shopping trends are here to stay and which are winding down along with the pandemic.

Upcoming Food Events

Thursday, June 17:

• Roxbury Restaurant Week
• Farmers Markets: Falmouth, Foxborough, Harwich, Melrose, Milton, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Yarmouth

Friday, June 18:

• Roxbury Restaurant Week
  
• Farmers Markets: Osterville

Saturday, June 19:

• Roxbury Restaurant Week
  
• Farmers Markets: Andover, Braintree, Marblehead, Newton, Orleans, Provincetown, Wakefield, Waltham

Sunday, June 20:

• Farmers Markets: Acton-Boxborough, Canton, Needham, North Andover, Swampscott, Weymouth, Wilmington

Monday, June 21:

• Boston: Summer Dinner Cocktail Party at Eataly.
• Farmers Markets: Beverly, Billerica, Truro

Tuesday, June 22:

• Farmers Markets: Chatham, Lexington, Newton, Sandwich

Wednesday, June 23:

• Farmers Markets: Arlington, Dedham, Brewster, Wellfleet

Looking ahead: Sunday, June 27: That's the day Blue Barn Outdoor Living will be hosting The Landing. The event runs from 4-8 pm at Chef Will Gilson's The Herb Lyceum at Gilson's in Groton. In addition to live music, six local chefs will use their creative culinary (and pitmaster!) chops to prepare signature tasting dishes on the new UFO firepit and cook system by Blue Barn Outdoor Living.

Dave Copeland is Patch's regional editor for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).