Somerville Licensing Board Approves World Cup Late-Night Hours

Other Committee · Meeting of April 21, 2026

Somerville licensing board OKs opt-in 3:30 a.m. closings for World Cup matches. The Licensing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to let alcohol licensees apply, date by date, for extended hours from June 11 to July 19, with last call at 2 a.m. and no application fee. Police liaison Captain D'Oliveira relayed Chief Banfford's objection, warning "an OUI call or a serious crash call can tie up one, two, as many as three officers for an hour or more." Chairman Joe Lynch called it "not puritanical," noting 2 a.m. closing is a state rule.

Separately, the board granted Gaucho Brazilian Cuisine a conditional 60-day reinstatement of its revoked 2 a.m. license after Captain D'Oliveira reported police calls fell "from 62 last year to only 10 this year," with a mandatory review set for June. The commission also cleared roughly twenty other license and permit items.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of April 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.