Friday, July 10, 2015

Update: The Greatest Bar Working with the City of Boston After Raid by Authorities

[Ed note: This article was updated on July 13 and July 15 to reflect that the bar is working with the city to deal with issues that have come up.]

One week after reporting that a Boston bar lost its license indefinitely after a series of raids, it looks like another drinking spot in the city could face an uncertain future after a raid took place yesterday.

The Boston Herald is reporting that The Greatest Bar on Friend Street near North Station was paid a visit last night by the Inspectional Services Commissioner, the chairman of Boston's Problem Properties Task Force, and city police officers, looking for a manager to discuss the many violations that have allegedly taken place at the watering hole since last year. The article says that the commissioner told the manager that he wanted to talk to the owners (who were not at the bar at the time), saying that if no one from the bar met with the city, their occupancy permit could be taken away as early as today. Some of the more than 20 recent violations at The Greatest Bar include major brawls, over-served customers being hurt, and an assault on a police officer, according to the Herald (via city records). The manager of The Greatest Bar declined to talk to the newspaper, and it is not known if/when the owners will indeed meet with the city at this point in time.

Last week, it was learned that Julep Bar in Boston's Financial District had its liquor license suspended for the foreseeable future after three raids by state regulators showed a variety of offenses at that drinking spot. As for now, it is not known if the High Street bar will ever reopen.

[July 13 update: The Greatest Bar remained open over the weekend, and a Facebook post from the drinking spot mentions that they are working with City Hall officials "to make our venue the safest place possible for our patrons."]

[July 15 update: A new article in The Boston Herald mentions that The Greatest Bar is indeed working with the city to address all the issues that came about from a raid, with inspectors visiting the place multiple times along with the police. The article says that as of Sunday, all eight critical health violations had been taken care of and the bar will keep working with the city to make sure no more problems come up. (The Herald does say that The Greatest Bar is still on the "problem properties" list and will need to meet with the Problem Properties Task Force before it can be taken off that list.)]

The address for The Greatest Bar is 262 Friend Street, Boston, MA, 02114.

[Earlier Article]
Julep Bar's Liquor License Suspended Indefinitely

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