After Restaurant’s Third Alcohol Violation, Town Considers Policy Revamp

July 23, 2025
• The popular Irish-American pub appeared before the Select Board after a bartender served a minor alcohol during a police compliance check in March.

The James Pub and Provisions failed a Needham Police compliance check, resulting in a seven-day suspension of their alcohol sales, the Select Board decided on Tuesday.

The restaurant, located at 1027 Great Plain Ave., served an underaged party beer on March 19, prompting police to issue a notice of violation, Police Chief John Schlittler told the board. The bartender did not ask for ID and therefore did not scan an ID, which he is required to do.

This violation follows two similar offenses at The James, the first in December 2021 and the second in late October, less than five months before the third offense. All three incidents occurred during Needham Police compliance checks, which take place two to three times a year, Schlittler wrote via email.

During the hearing, General Manager Mary Kiely called the recent violation “extremely embarrassing” and a disappointment for her and the staff.

“I take my job very seriously, and we’re very sorry that happened, but he was new, a new member of staff, and I don’t know if he was nervous, because there was a lot of stuff going on,” Kiely said to the board. “There’s no excuses for it, but it was not somebody that was with our team very long, and he had been checking IDs every day up until that day. I just don’t know what happened at that moment.”

The 2021 incident was considered a verbal warning, but the second — The James’s first official violation — carried a two-day suspension that was served within a month’s time, Support Services Manager Myles Tucker said.

The recommended punishment for failure to use an ID scanner is a six-to-10-day suspension for a second violation, while the second compliance check failure carries a suspension of up to five days, according to Tucker.

The board found the restaurant did violate Needham’s alcohol laws, deciding to dole out a seven-day suspension, which is both the minimum recommended penalty and about half of the maximum possible.

In an effort by the Select Board to reduce the severity, the restaurant will split its seven-day suspension into two parts over the next 45 days upon receipt of written notice, and the owners can choose when to serve those dates. However, the town’s alcohol policy, newly amended in 2023, calls for violations to be served consecutively.

Several board members expressed apprehension in punishing the establishment according to those policy guidelines. While a penalty is warranted, Kevin Keane said that he and the board “don’t want to break you.” Marianne Cooley said she received calls from residents concerned their alcohol license would be revoked, calling the restaurant “beloved.”

While they intend to follow policy, Chair Heidi Frail said “we don’t want to hurt our restaurant community unduly.” At a preliminary meeting about the matter, Frail said it sounded as though The James took proper measures after the previous compliance failures.

“I think that actually our team really felt like you guys had really stepped it up, that your alcohol hygiene, if you will, was really exemplary, and that this was a very unfortunate lapse, as you say, by a new employee,” she said, “but an employee nonetheless, who had been trained in person.”

Frail visited the restaurant recently with her husband, who forgot his ID and was subsequently not served alcohol. She said her ID was scanned by a server at the table.

Following the first violation, management at The James said they conducted TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) certification and additional training. They also obtained their ID scanners at that time. Staff receive reminders about their ID practices during pre-service meetings, Kiely said at the meeting.

Vice Chair Cathy Dowd suggested the board may want to reexamine its alcohol policy if it feels it to be too punitive. Frail said their intention is “not to drive a restaurant out of business.”

Keane considered it “uncharted territory,” because he said no other business has incurred as many violations.

“It’s good to hear that you made some changes, because flatly, your training doesn’t seem to work,” he said, “not if a new employee is making this mistake… And I blame this at your feet. They’re getting the signal that, whatever you’re telling them somehow, not to check for ID, they’re getting that signal from someone. They’re not inventing it.”

Other establishments also received recent suspensions for alcohol compliance check failures, including Gordon’s Fine Wine in October 2024 and Needham Wine & Spirits, Needham Center Fine Wines and Homewood Suites (doing business as The Heights) in December 2023.

The bartender who served the minor was immediately terminated, according to management, though that is not required of them by the town. He had only been hired about three weeks prior and “had just finished training,” Kiely said at the meeting.

Owner Stuart Henry apologized to the board and shared his “sincere regret.”

“I’ve run The James for the last seven years. We’ve done a lot of good with the community. We’re a big part of the community. My wife’s a teacher in Needham. We don’t live in Needham, but we consider The James basically our home, and our guests and our neighbors part of our family,” he said at the hearing. “But it’s just incredibly embarrassing, and I’m sorry it happened.”