The City that Mostly Sleeps: Taco place gets OK to open until 2 a.m. in Kenmore Square

The Boston Licensing Board today gave El Jefe's Taqueria permission to open a new location in the big Whoop complex in Kenmore Square - with a closing time of 2 a.m., 11:30 p.m. for an outdoor patio.

El Jefe's owner John Schall had asked for a 3 a.m. closing time, like at his outlets down Comm. Ave. near Agganis Arena, on Huntington Avenue in the Fenway and in Harvard Square.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce today acknowledged that Schall has been "a good operator in the city," who has managed to keep two taco places open until 3 a.m. with no problems. But the board considers each location separately and "there is a lot of support for an earlier closing" in Kenmore Square. At a hearing yesterday, support for a 3 a.m. closing was balanced by opposition from, among others, Boston University's police chief, City Councilor Sharon Durkan and the owner of Cornwall's, who also leads a Kenmore residents group.

Still, Joyce added that if Schall can show "a good track record" in Kenmore Square with a 2 a.m. closing time, she would be willing to consider a 3 a.m. closing time eventually.

In 2022, the board extended the closing time of his outlet at Tremont and Boylston streets, in Emerson's Little Building from midnight to 2 a.m. - two years after a resident group there and that area's city councilor, Ed Flynn, expressed deep concern about the impact on Emerson freshman of the siren call of early morning tacos.