image description — Chili's closed abruptly last month but the company is looking for another entity to take over the location and alcohol license.

Pittsfield Chili's Looking for New Tenants

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:18PM / Tuesday, September 24, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Chili's Grill and Bar has closed up shop and is looking for a new business to carry out its lease.

Director of Northeast Operations Allen Anderson notified the Licensing Board of the intent on Monday, a month after a seemingly abrupt closure of the Berkshire Crossing location.

"It's a relatively new building. It's a great opportunity for anybody that is interested," he said during the meeting broadcasted by Pittsfield Community Television.

"I think it's a good, solid plan."

In mid-August, there were moving trucks outside the location instead of preparations for the lunch rush. It was first reported by PCTV on its Facebook page and a call to the restaurant was answered by an employee who said the eatery had no plans to reopen.

Anderson said Chili's is currently looking for a buyer and will renew the liquor license when it is due at the end of the year. The current lease agreement goes out to 2029 and the company, Pepper Dining Inc., is looking for another business to carry it out.

"We want to find a buyer as soon as possible," he explained. "I don't know if they have anything in the works."

The restaurant opened for business in 2018. There are currently 15 other Chili's in Massachusetts, according to a company map of the locations.

Chair Thomas Campoli explained that the company was brought before the board because it was understood that the location had closed. The board's interest is on the status of the liquor license.

In Pittsfield, if a liquor license is revoked it is not replenished.

Similarly, owners of the seemingly shuttered House of Seasoning on Seymour Street were brought before the board for this meeting. According to The Berkshire Eagle, the African restaurant closed in March after a dispute with the landlord, and News 10 ABC reported in April that it would be moving to Troy, N.Y.

The city is trying to get in touch with the owners so that the liquor license can be transferred. They have been contacted by certified mail to three different addresses and all came back as "could not forward."

"Under Massachusetts law, if an entity ceases operation for a somewhat extended period of time, then we are obligated at some point to initiate a process to cancel their license," Campoli explained.

"I don't think that we're close to doing that in this particular case."

Attorney William Martin, who was there for another agenda item, disclosed that he had previously represented the owners and could try to get in touch with them.

Tags: license board, restaurants,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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