Middle Eastern restaurant wins approval for dine-in service only at busy South Boston rotary, where residents worry about traffic and pedestrian safety

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday approved plans to replace the long shuttered Supreme House of Pizza at 313 Old Colony Ave. in South Boston with a new restaurant that would serve Middle Eastern food and fresh-pressed juices - along with pizza and burgers - between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. - but on condition it not offer takeout.

Dany Abouelkhier initially sought a license under which his proposed Virtual Food Kitchen would only serve takeout, but he withdrew that proposal and instead sought permission to open a 14-seat eat-in restaurant at a hearing on Wednesday.

To actually offer takeout, he would need approval from not just the licensing board but from the Zoning Board of Appeal - takeout requires a "conditional permit" - which in turn would trigger a "community process" at which residents could raise the issues about safety at the location on a busy rotary that they raised at a licensing hearing on Wednesday.

Attorney Kristen Scanlon said Abouelkhier would also like to open earlier than 11 a.m. and has hired an architect to see if there's a way to increase the number of seats without requiring new plumbing and electrical permits.

The licensing board, which over the past year has begun grilling people seeking new restaurant licenses about their plans for handling third-party delivery cars and scooters, would then also have to sign off on any takeout.

The licensing board does not normally require hearings on restaurants that want to replace a previous restaurant without major occupancy changes, but Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said she called one because of the already intense public discussion about the proposal.

Andrew Square Civic Association President Linda Zablocki said she and other group members were actually thrilled when they first heard about Abouelkhier's plans for the space - where plans for a marijuana dispensary had fallen through - because he would be bringing "good food choices" to an area not known for it.

But she said she grew extremely worried when she then heard about his plans for extensive takeout right on a rotary where there are "at least two accidents a week" and that already has several nearby facilities that draw considerable traffic, including a church, an elementary school and a BHA development.

"We have already had mothers grabbing children by the hood," to keep them from getting squashed at the rotary, she said.

Nearby resident Maria Bermudez told the board she is also "very happy" at the idea of healthy-food options in the neighborhood, but said that with no parking in the area, take-out customers and third-party deliverers would inevitably double park on the already congested streets to pick up orders.

"The neighborhood cannot absorb any more parking," she said. She said that before the takeout is approved, the owner of the block should consider setting aside some spaces in the parking lot now used by a liquor store for the restaurant.

Watch the hearing: