Pittsfield's Tavern at The A Will Seek New Operators

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Tavern at The A is again looking for a new operator with a hopeful opening in the spring. First, it must be able to transfer the liquor license.

On the agenda for last week's Licensing Board meeting was a conversation with Steve Cobb, president of the General Electric Athletic Golf Course board of directors. The Crane Avenue restaurant is on the golf course's property. 

Attorney Bill Martin said there is a "really bad relationship" with the holder of The A's liquor license — with owners struggling to even get in contact. A few years ago, the former tenants went out of business and now, he said the GEAA is facing a worse situation with the latest tenants.

"Another tenant operator has managed to do even worse, has left us in a situation where we not only have, I think, unpaid [Department of Unemployment Assistance] and [Department of Revenue] obligations but we can't even get enough information out of her at this point to determine what those obligations are," Martin reported.

"It looks like there has been a lot of months that were not filed. We spent the last three or four weeks basically chasing as hard as we can simply to get the renewal application filed."

According to The A's Facebook, the restaurant appears to have been closed since late summer though craft-making events at the Roasted Garlic, a restaurant on West Housatonic Street, are being advertised on the page.

Martin said there are also unpaid vendors, amounting to "tens of thousands of dollars worth of obligations that we're probably going to have to clear in connection with an application" for a liquor license transfer.

Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
10:55AM / Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Elm Street will be partially closed as cleanup continues. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wednesday morning was busy for Pittsfield first responders, as a pickup truck crashed into Samel's Deli & Catering and a fire broke out on First Street.

Around 9:45 a.m., the police reported that the street in front of Samel's Deli & Catering would be closed or down to one lane as a result of a two-car collision that sent the truck careening into the deli.

The department posted two photos on Facebook, one depicting the silver truck with New York license plates crashed through the glass of the front entrance and another of a white Honda CR-V with significant damage to the front end.

"A vehicle was coming out of one of the alleyways here and struck this truck, which continued into the building," Police Officer Craig Jones explained when iBerkshires arrived on the scene.

Jones reported that there was one injury but whether it was someone in the vehicles or in the deli. A crossing signal near Samel's front entrance was also taken out by the truck.

Around this time, crews worked to clear debris in front of the restaurant as the truck was towed away. That section of the road reopened around 11 a.m.

The police, firefighters and an ambulance responded to the accident and police intend to release a statement on the incident.

Around 6:15 a.m., the Fire Department reported that it had responded to a possible structure fire at 233-235 First St. Windows on all three floors of the multi-family building are now broken or boarded up and the cause is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office.