by Alix Roy – Article Courtesy of:  WeeklyNews.net

LYNNFIELD – The Board of Selectmen approved a handful of licenses on Monday for restaurant newcomer Fat Cactus, which will soon become the third restaurant in so many years to occupy the lot at 215 Broadway, former home of Lucille’s Fine Chicken and the Naked Fish Restaurant.

Fat Cactus was touted as an “authentic Mexican family-style restaurant” by owner Mark Colangelo, who also owns the nearby Bostonville Grille with his wife Karen. The new restaurant will include a bar area and two back rooms with three pool tables and 10 video games for children. Occasional entertainment could include a mariachi band, but Colangelo said the restaurant would not be a venue for loud music.

“As far as rock and roll in the bar area, that’s not the setting that we’re looking for,” he said. “We expect there to be a lot of children in the restaurant.”

Attorney Michael McCarthy of Wakefield represented the Colangelos during Monday’s public hearing, stressing the couple’s track record as successful restaurant owners and pointing to the Bostonville Grille as a venue that gives back to the community.

“They’re good citizens and they’re good neighbors,” he said, listing off the restaurant’s contributions to little league teams and charitable organizations.

McCarthy also pointed out that Fat Cactus would be taking over a lot that is currently vacant in a down economy, generating an estimated 50 new jobs.

“Obviously it will be good for the tax base,” he said.

The board unanimously approved the transfer of liquor license from Naked Restaurants, Inc. to the Fat Cactus and granted separate licenses for pool tables, video games, food service and entertainment on weekdays and on Sundays after 1 p.m.

The tentative operating hours for the establishment will be weekdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. A Mexican buffet brunch is planned for Sunday mornings. As is the case at Bostonville Grille, the Fat Cactus will be allowed to serve alcohol until 1 a.m. every night and all of the restaurant’s servers will be TIPS certified. Bostonville Grille manager Matthew Greer will be overseeing operations at the Fat Cactus as well, said Colangelo, and neighbors can rest easy when it comes to late night loitering.

“We get them right out of there when it’s time to go,” he said.