Upscale Japanese restaurant to open in vacant D'Agostino building on Franklin Street
Published on July 16th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen last week sanctioned the opening of a 98-seat gourmet Asian eatery at the former site of D'Agostino's restaurant along Franklin Street.
In an unanimous vote, the Selectmen approved the site plan petition, which will not only permit the long-vacant restaurant to reopen its doors, but also allow the applicants to expand the size of the space by taking over an adjacent nail salon.
The property, situated at 19-25 Franklin Street, is located next to the old Love's Furniture building and across the street from a municipal lot in the heart of Stoneham Center.
The building, which has been vacant for a number of years now, was previously eyed by the owner of Marino's Italian restaurant for a steakhouse, but that deal reportedly fell through due to complications over the sale of the site.
Last January, the Selectmen approved a transfer of D'Agostino's liquor license to the petitioners, who then announced their intention to open an upscale Japanese eatery called, "U, Me".
The applicants, who already own and operate two similar restaurants in Arlington and Cambridge, have committed to spending over $600,000 to renovate the building's interior.
According to attorney Geoffrey Meader, of the law firm Looney & Grossman, his clients had finally purchased the site from the former owners of D'Agostino's restaurant and now hoped to expand the location before opening.
By doing so, Meader explained, the restaurateurs could make the dining area appear more spaced-out and add a separate sushi bar - a cocktail bar will also be placed in the eatery.
"To get the most effective use of this property, she would like to incorporate what had been previously used as a nail salon," said Meader, explaining that a common wall between the two commercial spaces would be knocked down.
"It would not increase the capacity of the restaurant, just the size of the [dining area]. There's not external change that's being requested, merely the removal of the wall," the lawyer added.
Before approving the proposal, the Selectmen did voice several concerns with how the restaurant would co-exist next to the Love's Furniture condo redevelopment.
Referring to the deliberations last January, veteran Selectman Robert Sweeney sought assurances that a cooking vent, located just outside of some of the residential units, would be removed to the Spencer Street side of the restaurant.
In addition, Sweeney sought and obtained another concession, where a rolling dumpster unit behind the building would be placed inside of a covered structure, so that upstairs tenants did have to look at the trash receptacle.
"If the dumpster is between the garage and the fence, the people in the condos, who live on the third and fourth floor, will be looking down at it," the Selectman explained.
Satisfied that the restaurant's exterior aesthetics would blend-in with the character of the downtown area, Joseph Cunningham, who redeveloped the Love's building, wished the new merchants the best of luck.
Later during last week's meeting, the Selectmen also unanimously endorsed a related request to alter the address of the site to 19 Franklin Street - a change which reflected the incorporation of the former nail salon establishment.
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