Oil delivery mishap forces cafe to close after 35 years of business

By WCVB Staff

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    BELMONT, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A restaurant that served a Boston suburb for decades has been forced to permanently closed after an oil delivery driver’s mishap led to a large amount of heating fuel being dumped in the basement.

Aram’s Café, in Belmont, made its goodbye announcement via a Facebook post that was shared Thursday night.

The restaurant on Trapelo Road was a breakfast and lunch spot known for its Armenian food that first opened in 1987.

“To our loyal customers, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU. Thank you for your loyalty, for the friendships, for the laughs, and all the amazing memories,” reads the Facebook post. “This was not how we expected our story to end. But nevertheless, we are so grateful for every single day of the last 35 years for the opportunity to serve you and this wonderful community. May you always remember Aram’s with happy memories and full stomachs.”

In a previous interview with the Belmont Citizen-Herald, a WCVB media partner, restaurant owner Aram Postaljian said he was working the grill in late January when he heard a flushing sound and discovered an unfamiliar reddish liquid flushing underneath the stairs in his basement. An Aram’s Café customer who works at a gas station across the street identified the liquid as heating oil.

Before he knew it, Postaljian said approximately 75 gallons of bioheat super plus — a combination of biodiesel and heating oil — had flooded into his basement.

Postaljian told the newspaper that the fuel tank was removed from his restaurant years ago when the building was converted from oil heat, but the pipe from the outside to the basement had been left in place.

“Somehow, whoever disconnected the tank, forgot to cap the pipe from outside,” he said.

The owner of the company involved in the incident, Cubby Oil, admitted to the Belmont Citizen-Herald that one of his delivery workers made a mistake by delivering the fuel to 85 Trapelo Road, the address for Aram’s Café, instead of 81 Trapelo Road.

Cubby Oil owner Charlie Uglietto said when the worker entered the address into his GPS system, it took him to the wrong building. If the worker’s truck had been on the wrong street, it would not have allowed him to pump the oil until he confirmed the correct location. In this case, a warning did not come up because the GPS led the truck to that location.

“The second thing we ask our drivers to do, if they are not familiar with the property, is to confirm by the front door, what number you are at. In this case, he would have seen the number 85,” Uglietto told the newspaper. “I fault him for not checking on the front door since it was a new property to make sure he was at the right address.”

Uglietto said he immediately contacted ACV Enviro Corporation to contain the oil spill in the basement of Aram’s Café and begin the remediation process, which is overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

“I want to apologize to Aram for the mistakes we made. I certainly take full responsibility for everyone that works for me here,” Uglietto said. “No one did anything intentionally.”

According to the Belmont Citizen-Herald, Postaljian said the oil delivery mishap ruined about $60,000 worth of merchandise that was stored in the basement of his restaurant.

Postaljian indefinitely closed Aram’s Café following the Cubby Oil worker’s mistake, and he ultimately had to close the restaurant because of it. The Belmont Citizen-Herald reported that Postaljian put the cafe on the market for $200,000 last fall, as he was hoping to retire.

The farewell Facebook post from Aram’s Café also included signs posted in the windows of the business, one of them reading: “Thank you Cubby Oil Co. for destroying my 35 years of hard work in 3 minutes!”

Shortly after the incident, Uglietto reportedly told the Belmont Citizen-Herald he would make things right for Aram’s Café, whatever the cost.

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