Owner of Dorchester communications shop plans to shift into shawarma

Update: Approved.

The Boston Licensing Board votes tomorrow on whether to let Jean-Luc De Barros convert his Plateau Communications shop at 251 Bowdoin St. in Dorchester into Boston Plateau Shawarma, where he promised to serve the Middle Eastern thin-sliced meat and chicken "slow cooked to perfection."

If the board approves the shawarma restaurant, it would mainly sell takeout, although it would have nine seats.

In a separate vote, the board will also consider whether to formally designate the upper two floors of the building, which De Barros owns, as a lodging house.

De Barros has been renting out the four rooms, each with two beds and a kitchen, through Airbnb and VRBO. But while the city frowns on non-owner-occupied short-term rentals - De Barros lives in Roxbury, lodging houses are still allowed.