For years, getting a liquor license was one of the least exciting parts of opening a restaurant. But as areas like the Lower East Side have been overrun with restaurants and bars, all that has changed. In the end, the fate of a restaurant's liquor license lies in the hands of the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA). Before it gets there, a restaurant must first go before a Community Board's SLA committee, whose suggestions the SLA follows very closely these days – especially in high-density areas. SLA committee meetings in high-tension areas like those served by Community Boards Two and Three in Lower Manhattan can go for more than five hours. Last night's Community Board 3 meeting, which had over 40 items on its agenda, was no exception. On the plus side, the meetings also provide a great glimpse into a neighborhood's drinking and dining future.

The first half of the evening was devoted to restaurants like The EU and Nomad that were looking to add or extend the hours of their sidewalk cafes (Nomad got an extra hour of outdoor time and EU got approval to add outdoors seats pending a meeting with its local block association).

The rest of the night focused on licenses for upcoming establishments. There will be a new restaurant from the team behind the Little Owl and Market Table called Penmanship;  located in the old butcher shop on 124 First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's, it plans to embrace history of its space by keeping as much of the shop as possible – including the tile and large fridge. Some other new spots that were approved for licenses include a Brazilian restaurant at 211 Avenue A called Obrigado, an Italian at 32 Avenue A called Rolo, a slow-food Italian called Piedmont at 95 Allen Street and an open-kitchen Spanish restaurant named after its owner, Eda Kilic, at 432 East 13th Street. Also of note was an application that was approved for a new, as yet unnamed, Sicilian restaurant aiming to open in the old Kelley and Peng space at 325 Bowery by the fall (though a lease has yet to be signed).

Now those are just the places that were approved. Many more met a less exciting fate and were forced to either come back with a new proposal or scrap their plans altogether.

Update: To clarify some confusion, the new restaurant going into 124 First Avenue is from Gabriel Stulman, of the Little Owl and Market Table, but is a separate venture. Further, Penmanship is only its corporation name, not the name of the restaurant.