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City officials sing praises of proposed karaoke joint in Allston

Henry Wong, who owns the Limelight restaurant and karaoke bar at Boylston and Tremont streets downtown, won approval from one city board this week to open something similar at Harvard and Brighton avenues in Allston.

The Zoning Board of Appeals approved his proposal to turn the now closed Patron's into a restaurant where patrons could sing. At a Tuesday hearing, Wong did not say whether he would also call the place Limelight.

Wong needed a variance from the board because city zoning codes actually prohibit live entertainment there. Through his attorney, Dennis Quilty, Wong said the main structural change he'd be making would be to add a stage for singers.

Wong will also need approval from the Boston Licensing Board to serve food and alcohol.

The proposal was supported by the mayor's office, City Councilor Mark Ciommo (Allston/Brighton) and the Allston Civic Association. An aide to the mayor said the proposed restaurant and bar would be "a good addition to the Allston nightlife."

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Comments

Limelight sucks; public bar style kareoke, overpriced drinks, and private rooms at absurd rates. RIP to the late great DoReMi, which let you bring in your own food (and booze, if you were sneaky) and had a great selection of less common tracks. When DRM closed (to build condos, what else), we called Limelight to see if they any k-pop or broadway stuff and the girl on the phone told us she didn't know what songs they had, or even whether they had ANY of those genres. Didn't know, couldn't check. For a kareoke joint.

Limelight rolling in and opening another overpriced bar with music is just symptomatic of the entire ruining of Allston.

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Sure, maybe your right, but is really any worse than NOTHING?

If it stays in business isn't better than an empty building full of memories and warning about the dangers of leveraged buyouts?

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oh sure, something is almost always better than nothing, but it's still twisting the knife.

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Could this be located in the old Sunset space? Noticed the lights were on and more demo work being done over the past week.

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Which is separate from the Sunset space, no?

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I think they might've shared the same kitchen/menu items but that was Patrons upstairs.

Whatever happens, just wanna see that building full of activity again!

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Put aside the alienation and spoke favorably of Limelight.

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But will they get on with the fascination of a karaoke place?

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I used to go to Limelight back when I lived in the South End and honestly, it was run terribly and prices were outrageous. Mr Wong would make a killing if he kept the prices as low as possible and had a broad range of songs for people of all cultures and genres.

It could be a hub if done correctly. If so expensive it will be desolate, just like the one on Tremont St

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