Wareham Slaps ‘Excessive’ Punishment on Onset Beach Patio and Grill

The owner of Onset Beach Patio and Grill says he may have to shut down his business for the off-season after what he calls an "excessive" decision by the town, but this isn't the first time the two have battled it out.

The Wareham Select Board wasn't playing around September 3, choosing to suspend the liquor license of the Onset Beach Patio and Grill for 60 days for what the owner says was only three hours of entertainment. The restaurant's owner, Frank Evangelista, said the penalty is so severe that he is considering shuttering the business for the entire off-season.

Evangelista openly admitted to Fun 107 that the patio hosted a late-night DJ to "give something back to the community." He says he wanted to give people something to do late at night. The outdoor DJ played music until 1 a.m. while the kitchen stayed open.

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"We were not aware that we were not allowed to do that, so we spoke to the town about it the next day," Evangelista said.

Ownership was told about a state amendment process to extend hours with the alcohol and beverage commission and various fees necessary to make it happen.

"We decided it was not in our best interest, so we didn't move forward with the amendment," Evangelista said.

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Evangelista claims that the late-night DJ party was a single occurrence.

"It was only that one night," he said. "It was for three hours from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.  Because we stayed open for the extra three hours, the town decided that they wanted to suspend us for 60 days. It's very excessive. I had no opportunity to defend myself because I was not aware of the disciplinary hearing that happened last night."

Evangelista said he found out about the suspension the morning of September 4 when he logged on to Facebook.

Evangelista and Wareham Town Officials Have Battled Before

This is not the first time the Onset Beach restaurant has had a power struggle with town officials.

Last summer, the business was forced to stop line dancing lessons after the town told Evangelista he needed to apply for an entertainment license to continue.

Evangelista told the Select Board he did not know he needed an entertainment license for the dancing lessons, radio or TVs and apologized to the board for not following the correct procedure.

"It makes it hard to run a restaurant without them," the owner said at the time.

How The Suspension Will Affect Onset Beach Patio and Grill

"This is going to cost my business thousands (of dollars)," Evangelista said. "We're going to appeal the decision and hopefully get to the town's better nature. Hopefully, they'll let us continue selling our main source of income. It's already hard enough to stay open year-round. We're the only ownership that's done that in over 130 years that this business has been open."

Evangelista says he normally chooses to stay open year-round not so much for the profitability but as a community service.  He says if the appeals process doesn't work out to their benefit, the restaurant likely won't remain open.

Evangelista was unsure when his appeal might be heard.

Fun 107 called the Wareham Select Board office looking for someone to confirm the restaurant's suspension and discuss the appeals process, but a representative said "no comment" before hanging up the phone.