Ninety Nine Bans Alcohol for Cemita Shack

Michelle Lozuaway and Josh Lanahan, co-owners of STREET, have been blocked from serving alcohol at their newest restaurant, the Cemita Shack, by a Massachusetts-based restaurant chain's lease at Southgate Plaza.

According to Lozuaway, the Cemita Shack signed a lease with Waterstone Retail Development to open their new Mexican-style restaurant at the former Taco Bell that is located next to the Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub.

Lozuaway said Waterstone Retail Development officials told them at the lease signing the Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub had a lease that pre-dated their ownership of the Southgate Plaza and their lease allows them to prevent any other restaurants that choose to locate them from serving alcohol.

The one exception is the Shio Japanese restaurant, which was granted permission to serve alcohol from the Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub, she said.

Now she and Lanaway plan to open the Cemita Shack in June or July with a drive-through window with 77 seats inside and some outdoor seating. Lozuaway and Lanahan are currently talking to the New Hampshire Liquor Commission to see if they can allow their patrons to bring their own beer, wine and alcohol.

Lozuaway said many of their customers at STREET who are looking forward to going to the Cemita Shack are not pleased that they will not be able to purchase alcohol there.

Lozuaway said that if the Cemita Shack cannot work out a suitable arrangement with the Ninety Nine Restaurant's parent corporation in Woburn, Mass., they will eventually relocate to another site where they will be able to serve alcohol.

John Grady, president of the Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub company in Woburn, Mass., issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:

“We have been at our current location in Portsmouth for almost 13 years.  We employ many local residents and have become an integral part of the neighborhood over that time.  When we selected this location we agreed to a rent that granted us certain rights as part of our lease.  We are not seeking to prevent other establishments from opening, in fact, we have worked with the landlord in the past for other restaurants to open in the plaza.  We welcome the long overdue revitalization of the Southgate Plaza.”

The Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub company operates 105 restaurants in all six New England states and New York.