The seeming arbitrariness of the Allston Civic Association recommendations on closing times continues. The newest loser is (don’t call me Shabu) Toki, stuck with their current closing at 11pm.

Toki Japanese Restaurant, formerly named Shabu Shabu, on 123 Brighton Ave. in Allston, was denied a 1 a.m. closing time from 11 p.m. Residents refused to support a closing hour past midnight. Owner Christine Tam said the restaurant is undergoing some changes and is trying to better cater to the 20- to 30-year-old crowd. Toki has operated without incidents and has a limited alcohol license to beer and wine only.

No incidents and located on a street full of bars! Why not shut those whippersnappers down after the 4:30pm dinner rush, eh grampy? That’d teach em for staying open on Sundays.

We’re (potentially) getting a late-night deli over by the post office on Harvard Ave (one with a pretty cool name to boot). The schedule for the June 16th Allston Civic Association meeting.

· Harvard University – Presentation of fall football schedule

· 45 Allston St. – Proposal for basement apartment

· Shabu Shabu, Brighton Avenue – Request for extension of hours until 1 a.m.

·Night Star Deli, 59-63 Harvard Ave. – Proposal for 24-hour convenience store

Of course, you don’t have to be a particularly insightful observer to presuppose this twenty-four hour business won’t pass muster with Paul Berkeley & co. We shall see. On the other hand I give the Shabu Shabu extension even odds.

First went Marty’s went down, then Uno’s followed. Now, McDonald’s is making noises unless they can stay open later than 11pm, they’ll be next to fold up shop. Great Scott might not to walk under any ladders and avoid black cats for a while.

The request to have McDonald’s stay open later is (predictably) opposed by Paul Berkeley and the Allston Civic Association. The logic of how one goes about implying that a restaurant that doesn’t serve any alcohol is responsible for a major crime like this completely escapes me. These (rare) events are fueled by alcohol and/or drug situations gone wrong, not some (regrettably gross) grub.

So yeah, god forbid I ever have to eat at a McDonald’s, but I’m completely with Scott Matalon & AVMS on this. Considering these requests to stay open later on a case by case basis raises issues of favorable treatment of certain businesses at the expense of others, allowing some people to play politics with their own particular favorites. The appearance of inequity exists, and it’s not like there’s not a history of palms getting greased.

Scott Matalon, owner of Stingray Body Art and vice president of Allston Village Main Streets, said inconsistent hours are “causing great problems” for local business groups trying to attract news businesses to the area. “We would like to see some consistency in closing hours,” partly because of fairness, partly because people are simply safe inside a well lit restaurant or cafe than walking down a dark street. He didn’t buy the argument that if every place shut at the same time, the result would be chaos in the streets of Allston, because Allston’s the sort of place where that would have happened long ago no matter what, and it hasn’t.

And just for fun, a Daniel Pokaski fan page.

UPDATE: Much ado about nothing. 2am it is.

“But I think there’s a need to balance quality of life with our businesses. The only thing I objected to was the hours of operation they were seeking. Originally, 3 a.m. was suggested, and we said that would be a disaster for us and for you, too.”

I’m a fairly close neighbor to this property. From my perspective, any business serving food and not alcohol is going to be fixing rather than creating the nightly mini-disasters that tend to roam the neighborhood at those hours.

Berkeley said that at times, he has grown weary of the number of late-night businesses that have sprung up along Harvard Avenue, a significant change from the full-service business district he new [sic] as a child.

“At the licensing board hearing, they always ask, ‘is there a public need,’ but if you look at the law, it says there has to be a public need, but it also should be in the common good. I always feel that that doesn’t get equal footing with consumer demand,” said Berkeley.

I don’t think this block of Harvard Ave is in a position to be making nostalgia-based arguments against prospective non-bar tenants, particularly a local chain like Kelly’s who have a fairly solid reputation. And I certainly don’t think empty storefronts can be viewed as a public need or a common good.

Some of the comments on this post of HM’s from back in 2008 imply these attitudes from the ACA aren’t new, or specific to Kelly’s.

At the Allston Civic Association is meeting this coming Wednesday, one of the agenda items is a possible liquor store going in a 193 Harvard Ave. Presumably this would be sharing the large space that Marty’s used to occupy, rather than as a replacement for the forthcoming Kelly’s. I’m guessing this Glendale Liquors is owned by the same people that took over Best Cellars in Coolidge Corner – it looks like their home store is out in Waltham. Generally speaking I’m happy to have retail in the empty spaces on the block, liquor store or otherwise. And anything to give Blanchard’s a little competition is a good thing.

The Allston Civic Association (who inexplicably don’t have a website) nevertheless somehow managed to meet in person last Monday to give approval to the Joshua Tree’s request to start having live music on Wednesdays and Sundays. Expectations about the quality of said music should be held aggressively in check until assumptions based on the clientele’s alcoholic douchbaggery can be proven incorrect.