Worcester Business Journal

11 years, four restaurants 2007 Niche Hospitality opens Mezcal Tequila Cantina at 166 Shrewsbury St. 2013 Niche Hospitality and President Michael Covino purchase the space for $450,000. 2014 Mezcal moves to Major Taylor Boulevard. The Fix Burger Bar takes its place on Shrewsbury Street. July 2016 The Fix moves to the Northworks building on Grove Street. September 2016 Kevin Perry purchases the Shrewsbury Street property for $500,000. October 2016 Kevin Perry and wife Stacey Gala open specialty sandwich restaurant The Usual in the location. March 2017 A grand jury indicts Kevin Perry alleging drug distribution & money laundering. May 2017 The Usual closes. June 2017 Gala and business partner Joseph Herman reopen the restaurant as The Chameleon, calling for a rotating seasonal menu. October 2017 Perry pleads guilty, agrees to 14-16 year sentence. Sentencing date is set for April 24, 2018. The Chameleon closes abruptly. February 2018 Gala, Herman and Christopher Slavinskas are charged for opening Chameleon using drug proceeds. The once promising building on Restaurant Row must wait to be freed from a drug scheme The tale of 166 Shrewsbury St. O n a street bustling with businesspeople and foodies, one brightly colored building with a lime green awning has been vacant since October. e restaurant space at 166 Shrews- bury St. in Worcester had for nine years been the innovation space for perhaps the city's most high-profile hospital- ity group – along a stretch known as Restaurant Row – birthing two success- ful restaurants. Now, the space is devoid of any human life, and it will remain that way until the government sells the building. "I try to look at the bright side – at least it has a little curb appeal," said Jon Piccolo, president of the Shrewsbury Street Area Merchants Association and owner of Piccolo's Italian Restaurant, across the street from the vacant space. A restaurant breeding ground Eleven years ago – before the space became synonymous with drug crimes – 166 Shrewsbury St. was a startup location for Niche Hospitality Group. "We had some fun memories there," said President & CEO Mike Covino. Niche – the owner and operator of Worcester restau- rants like Bocado Tapas Wine Bar, Railers Sports Tavern and e Citizen Wine Bar – first started with its Mezcal Tequila Can- tina in the space on Shrewsbury Street. Aer the Mexican restaurant became too busy for the small space, it expanded to Major Taylor Boulevard, and Niche launched e Fix Burger Bar. Aer the Fix moved to the North- works building on Grove Street, Covino considered turning 166 Shrewsbury St. into a test kitchen for new cuisines. But Covino received an offer to sell the building at an 11-percent increase over what his company purchased the building for just three years prior. "We were busy with a bunch of projects we had going on, so we decided to sell," Covino said. "Unfortunately, it turned out that his money wasn't legal." Drug money Covino appeared alongside Stacey Gala before the Worcester Licensing Commission in August 2016, as Niche agreed to work as a consultant with Gala and her husband – Kevin Perry – on their restaurant: specialty sandwich shop e Usual. Perry had used his personal funds to buy 166 Shrewsbury St., along with BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer Mike Covino, president & CEO, Niche Hospitality Group 12 Worcester Business Journal | April 16, 2018 | wbjournal.com Jon Piccolo, president of the Shrewsbury Street Area Merchants Association and owner of Piccolo's Restaurant PHOTO/EDD COTE

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