Not too long ago, I invited a few friends to meet me after work for drinks and some appetizers at a restaurant in Bedford. We sat down and the waitress appeared. We started to give our drink order but were told that we would have to put in a food order before we could order drinks. Then to make things worse, we were told it could not be an appetizer, we each had to order a full meal if we wanted to have a drink and we needed to order the meal before we could order the drink. I was told by the restaurant owner that this was the policy in Bedford. I did a little research and it appears that Bedford is an anomaly in this regard as all of the other nearby towns let you order a drink without having to order a full meal beforehand. Because of this, my friends don't want to return to Bedford to meet me after work. They would rather meet in Burlington or Lexington or any of the surrounding towns.
This issue concerned me, so I spoke to some town residents. While not everyone was aware of the policy, many people make a point to drive out of Bedford to go to restaurants in surrounding towns because of this policy. Why are we making residents drive out of town to eat when there are plenty of good restaurants in Bedford?
I then wondered what impact this had on Bedford restaurants. I first talked
with Jeff Goldburg, owner of The Boardroom Bistro on Middlesex Turnpike. Jeff mentioned this policy kills his business. Employees from the office parks on Crosby Drive frequently come by, but more often than not upon hearing that you have have to order a full meal, they get up and leave and go across the street to Max and Dylans which happens to be just across the Billerica line. Many of the other restaurants in Bedford indicated they are also losing a lot of business due to this policy.
I fear that this problem will grow worse. Up to 10 new restaurants will soon be opening in Northwest Park in Burlington less than 2 miles from Bedford. I'm afraid some of our independent restaurants may be forced out of business.
I recently sat down with some other members of the Bedford Chamber of Commerce and we put together a proposal to make a few small changes to the Bedford Alcohol Policy to see if we can bring Bedford in line with other towns. We then met with the Selectmen to discuss these changes. During our meeting we were told, that the current policy was in place due to “tradition”. The selectman seemed open to consider our changes but wanted to study the issue and get some feedback from town residents.
This is your town. Make sure your voice is heard. We want you to let the
Selectmen know your thoughts on this issue. Do you think you should be forced to order a full meal before you can even order a single drink in Bedford when none of the surrounding towns require this? Please let them know. You can reach them through email at selectmen@bedfordma.gov
