No early morning chicken fingers in Downtown Crossing, but blame a landlord/tenant issue, not the City that Always Sleeps

The Boston Licensing Board today conditionally approved a food-serving license for a Raising Cane's at 101 Arch St. in Downtown Crossing that would let the chicken-finger chain fling breaded fingers until midnight.

The Louisiana-based chain had originally applied for a license to serve chicken fingers until 2 a.m. in the space where Pret a Manger used to be, but at a hearing yesterday, the chain's attorney said it had run into a financial issue with its landlord on paying for security in the wee hours: When Raising Cane's signed a lease for the space, the building had a landlord that agreed to pay for 24-hour security, but then that company sold the building to another firm that decided it didn't want to pay for protecting finger munchers in the wee hours. The new landlord and the chain were continuing to discuss how to pay for early morning security, the attorney said.

At the hearing, board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said she would have "a hard time" approving an early morning closing time without a signed agreement between the two sides on how they were going to provide security at the location, despite the chain's assertion that it's had no problems at two other Boston locations with 2 a.m. closing times, one nearby on Boylston Street, although the chain Web site says it actually closes at 11:30 p.m.

Before the board was scheduled to vote on the application this morning, the chain, which hopes to open on Arch Street in three weeks, submitted a revised application calling for a midnight closing time - with its outdoor patio to close at 11 p.m.

Despite the more traditionally early closing time, the board voted to "conditionally" approve the new license. Joyce said that even with a midnight closing, she still wants a written security plan that documents how the chain will protect its patrons and workers.