Jamaica Plain's Tres Gatos Seeks to Add Sangria, Live Music

Looking for a place to enjoy a pitcher of sangria with friends while you hear live music?

aims to be that place. The Centre Street tapas bar/record shop/bookstore seeks an expansion of its entertainment license to allow live performances. And it wants to add "cordials" to its liquor license, which would let them create batches of sangria.

David Doyle, co-owner of Tres Gatos, says neighbors shouldn't worry about loud live music being played late into the night at his place. He plans to bring in acts like Brazilian jazz or a flamenco dancer and guitarist.

"In my mind, there's a shortage of places where you can hear good, minimally-amplified music," Doyle told fellow business people at this month's JP Business and Professional Association meeting last week.

The music would be once a week at most, Doyle said, mostly on slower nights like Mondays or Tuesdays. Tres Gatos has hosted eight special events with live music, including a . He said neighbors haven't complained during these performances and he aims to keep it that way by not playing too late or too loud.

Doyle said that since they opened on Valentine's Day 2011, customers have been asking for sangria. But since their license only allows beer and wine, seekers of the summery drink have had to make do with tinto. [As an aside, speaking as someone who lived in Spain during college, their tinto, a combo of red wine and Pelligrino water, is highly authentic — and delicious.]

Doyle explained that other tapas restaurants in the Boston area have sangria, and it gives them a competitive advantage over Tres Gatos.

The Business and Professional Association unanimously voted to support Tres Gatos' on both fronts  — the entertainment and cordial licenses — as they start the permit process.