‘Egregious’: Allston bar shut down over repeated underage drinking violations

The Draft Bar and Grille in Allston has its liquor license suspended indefinitely on Jan. 8 after the Boston Licensing Board found repeated underage drinking violations.

“I was taken aback by the manager’s laid-back attitude about some of the mismanagement problems at this location. To me, it rose to the level of egregious,” Licensing Board member Kathleen Joyce said during a Jan. 8 meeting.

The bar faced scrutiny after police discovered three underage drinking violations while conducting a license inspection on Oct. 16, 2025.

“Looks like there’s about 75 to 100 people rapidly leaving the establishment once they realized we were checking IDs in the establishment. We did turn around, there’s only maybe seven or eight people left,” Detective Eddie Hernandez said during a Jan. 6 hearing.

Joyce first proposed a three-day ban, but the board ultimately voted to put in a place an indefinite suspension to be lifted upon the transfer of the bar’s license.

“I think that [Brady] has shown he is not fit for this license, another license, any license. It’s unfortunate,” Licensing Board member Keena Saxon said during the Jan. 8 meeting.

During an initial hearing on Jan. 6, Brady confessed that, while the Draft Bar and Grille historically used an ID scanning machine, the machine broke and was never replaced. 

“I guess the college kids have excellent fake IDs. It’s tough to spot them without the machine,” Brady said during the Jan. 6 hearing.

Board Member Liam Curran said Brady has plans to shut down and sell the Allston bar. If Brady continues to run the bar, he must appear before the board again to discuss the changes his bar will make to mitigate underage drinking, the board decided.