Essex Board of Selectmen Approves All-Alcohol License for New Steakhouse at 109 Eastern Avenue

ESSEX -- June 1, 2026, Essex Board of Selectmen unanimously approves all-alcohol restaurant license for new steakhouse at long-vacant Eastern Avenue address. The board voted without dissent at its June 1 meeting to grant an annual all-alcohol pouring license to JKE Barbecue Steakhouse LLC, doing business as Toro Barbecue Steakhouse, at 109 Eastern Avenue, with Kimberly Tucker named manager; attorney Patricia Johnson of Gloucester represented the owners, noting the building has housed restaurants nearly continuously "going back to Dexter's Hearthside." The license, which had lapsed when a prior tenant departed without transferring it, will be open seven days a week, 11:30 a.m. to midnight, and its issuance reduces the town's available all-alcohol pouring licenses from two to one. The board also unanimously appointed Derek Kowalski to a three-year Board of Public Works seat over an incumbent who did not submit a resume, with Town Administrator Brandon Zubricki citing Kowalski's water-and-sewer contracting background as well-suited to an upcoming rate study; potential industry conflicts of interest will be managed through Massachusetts ethics recusal procedures. Three eighth-grade MERSD students presented a civics project calling for a sidewalk or bike path along 2.6 miles of Southern Avenue, estimating a concrete sidewalk at roughly $700,000 based on a state per-square-foot average.