Grille May Face Penalties

The Crimson Sports Grille may be forced to temporarily go dry following citations for serving underage patrons.

Investigators for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) recommended yesterday that the state temporarily suspend the alcohol license of the Grille--a JFK Street restaurant and sports bar popular with Harvard students--in response to six counts of serving alcohol to minors.

ABCC investigators carded and questioned the students--four first-years and a sophomore at Harvard and one first-year at Cornell--in a sting conducted around midnight on Dec. 15.

All six students said they had been admitted with out-of-state drivers licenses that were either fake or did not belong to them.

Investigators confiscated the licenses and entered them into evidence at a hearing held yesterday at the ABCC office in downtown Boston.

The Grille's lawyer, James J. Rafferty, did not dispute that the students had been served, but requested yesterday that the Grille be able to pay a fine in lieu of the suspension, pointing to the safeguards taken by owner Paul C. McCarthy.

"There is a doorman in place who checks IDs and a policeman on paid detail [employed by McCarthy for the evening]," Rafferty said. "Both checks are designed to prevent the kind of incident that brings us here today."

Rafferty initially requested that if the commission decided on suspension, it defer enforcement until area colleges recess in June. He withdrew this request after conferring with McCarthy during the hearing.

Investigators said they were adamant that the commission suspend the license rather than permit the Grille to pay a fine, as it has several times in the past.

"This licensee has shown flagrant disregard for this commission," said Frederick G. Mahony, chief investigator for ABCC. "[McCarthy] has a history of serving alcohol to underage patrons. In our opinion, he doesn't take this seriously. He looks at it as a cost of doing business."

ABCC records show that the Grille has paid nearly $12,000 in fines to the commission since McCarthy acquired the establishment in 1993. The fines resulted from five different stings, including a $4,225.67 levy in place of a 24-day suspension imposed in 1994 for four counts of underage drinking.

The city of Cambridge is also investigating the Grille. Cambridge's licensing commission has scheduled a hearing next month to examine the bar's entire record of alcohol violations.

The city could decide to close the Grille entirely, said Richard V. Scali, executive director of the Cambridge licensing commission.

In January, the commission dismissed the results of an October sting for lack of evidence, but Scali said he thought the city would eventually prevail.

"[McCarthy's] business is to very surreptitiously get people in without getting caught," he said. "But we'll get him someday."