Cheeseboy at South Shore Plaza Could Be Shut Down for Lack of Food License

Cheeseboy opened at the on March 15 and has since been serving grilled cheese to go without a food license from the Town of Braintree – activity that could force the eatery to shut down in anticipation of a hearing later this month.

The Board of License Commissioners on Tuesday afternoon put aside a request for that Common Victualler License by a vote of 3-2, opening up the possibility of a May 24 hearing that may penalize Cheeseboy for operating in violation of town ordinance for nearly two months. License board officials will confer with Town Solicitor Carolyn Murray as soon as possible to determine if the establishment must shut down despite it being cleared by other departments such as fire, building and health.

Mark Swiderski, director of development for Cheeseboy, told board members that he and the company were unaware that their operation required such a license until the town's licensing coordinator contacted them last month. After that, Swiderski submitted an application that then came before the board on Tuesday.

"It wasn't a deliberate act," Swiderski said.

The company also operates stores at South Station in Boston and at a mall in Milford, CT. Swiderski said he had never previously come across a regulation requiring this kind of license and said Cheeseboy executives were similarily caught off guard by the request.

Some of the board members were themselves surprised that company officials would not have such knowledge.

"If they are not properly licensed by this board they shouldn't be open," Police Chief Paul Frazier said. "If my officer stops a vehicle and they don't have a license they don't drive off in the vehicle."

Chair Joe Powers cautioned that the town may be liable if something happened at the establishment while it was operating without a license. "There's an ordinance, there's a procedure in place," Powers said.

Director of Municipal Licenses and Inspections Marybeth McGrath and Inspector of Buildings Russell Forsberg voted against the tabling of Cheeseboy's license application, arguing that supporting materials from other departments were in order.

In other business, AMC Theater received permission from the board to show movies at 12 a.m. on three upcoming dates. On May 19 the theater will show Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; on June 30 Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon; and on July 14 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.