The City of Boston's Licensing Board suspended Monica's Trattoria's liquor and food license during a hearing on Tuesday morning. This comes as its owner finds himself facing criminal charges over a shooting incident in the North End neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, according to Mayor Michelle Wu's office.
The suspension, made based off a citation for failure of the licensee to appear at a board hearing on July 20, 2023, and a citation of no manager on duty, is until the board is able to transfer management to someone other than Patrick Mendoza, who pleaded not guilty to several charges including assault to murder on Friday, following an eight-day search for him.
Monica's has been in business for more than 20 years and now it's trying to replace its troubled owner and manager in order to retain its liquor license. Through its lawyers, the restaurant has been requesting the board grant a transfer of license to assistant manager Amanda McQueen.
Attorney William Ferullo argued on behalf of Monica's that McQueen has been working at the restaurant for six years and for the last two has been working as an operations manager, meaning she should be qualified to handle day-to-day operations. He also noted that Mendoza had resigned from the corporate entity that owns the business, and that his wife and son have taken over in his stead.
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Despite this, the board decided to suspend the license, saying they have not had a chance to review an application for McQueen and that prior to the hearing they did not know who was in charge.
"We had no idea who was in control at Monica’s and it turns out based on your testimony here today it was being controlled and run by someone who was unknown to the board and never approved by the board," Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said Tuesday.
The suspension is in effect until the board can vote on the transfer for license and review the change in ownership. A hearing date was not immediately set.
The shooting incident that set this off happened outside of Modern Pastry on Hanover Street, and left a bullet hole in Modern's glass storefront.
New details were revealed in court Friday — a Suffolk County prosecutor said Mendoza was on his bicycle when he saw the man he'd been feuding with and "fired multiple shots at this individual, stating, 'It's gonna be quick, I'm gonna kill you.'"
Mendoza biked away while the man he shot at, who wasn't hurt, went to tell police what happened.
The prosecutor said his office had "grave concerns for the safety of the community" in the case, asking that Mendoza not be released on bail. The restaurateur was also wanted for violating his bail — the day of the shooting was his last day on probation in the assault case involving the person he allegedly shot at — and the probation department also asked that he be held without bail.
The judge agreed.
Mendoza is due back in court Wednesday.
