Worcester Restaurant May Not Open Due To Fight Over Ventilation

WORCESTER, MA — A planned downtown Worcester restaurant is at risk of losing its liquor license due to a fight with a landlord over a ventilation system.

Shaking Crab co-owner Kevin Duong appeared before the Worcester License Commission Thursday to explain why the restaurant still hadn't opened at 554 Main St. more than eight months after getting initial liquor license approval.

Duong told the commission the restaurant is in a dispute with the building owner over the design of a ventilation system for the restaurant, which would serve boil-bag Cajun seafood — a cuisine that can produce pungent smells at close range, Duong noted.

The building is owned by the Menkiti Group, the owner of several downtown properties and developer of local loft apartments. Menkiti has also bid to redevelop the Denholm department store site.

The landlord wants to build a system that vents diagonally out of the restaurant and into the street. But Duong said he hasn't been able to find an engineer who would agree to build such a system. Ventilation systems typically go up and out a roof, he said. Duong also said the landlord agreed to build the ventilation system as part of the lease agreement.

The Menkiti Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday morning.

The dispute led commission members to question if the restaurant could open at all without final approval of a liquor license.

"I would love to open in Worcester, we've wanted to open since 2017," Duong said. "I'm not sure how we can move forward with the current situation."

The commissioners agreed to give Duong more time to explore an alternative, including a ventless system. If there's no solution in 30 days, he'll have to surrender the liquor license, they said.

The commissioners also said they would work with him to keep the liquor license if he found another site in Worcester.

Shaking Crab first opened in Newton in 2015, among the first in a wave of Cajun seafood-boil restaurants that have swept the nation in recent years. Shaking Crab now has five locations in Massachusetts, plus more in neighboring New England states, China, the Midwest and in Las Vegas.