'Being Amused Is a Violation of Massachusetts Law'

Two local bars are in hot water with the licensing board over a variety of alcohol-related offenses. Universal Hub reports on The Grand Canal's free Coors Lite woes and Nix's Mate's ice luge issues, the latter of which spawned a cascade of rather amusing Universal Hub reader comments about how "being amused is a violation of Massachusetts law" due to a detective's testimony that the ice luge was being used as an "amusement" in violation of the law. "If you want to be amused," responds another commenter, "you're going to need a permit for that. Along with dancing and milk drinking." Universal Hub's Adam Gaffin replies that bars have indeed "had to face the wrath" of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing for allowing dancing to occur without a license.

The Grand Canal has been slapped with a two-day suspension for a promotion where Coors Lite reps gave free second bottles to customers who had already paid for a Coors Lite; the bar's owner countered that Coors paid him back for the free bottles at the end of the night, so they weren't actually free. (This is on top of two previous five-day suspensions for violent bouncers.) Nix's Mate is getting two days for the ice luge, two days for overcrowding, and a fifth day for unauthorized bottle service. Both bars can appeal the suspensions.

· Bar has license suspended over handouts of Coors Lite[UH]
· Bar has license suspended over ice-luge drinking[UH]
· Grand Canal gets five-day suspension for bouncers beating up patrons[UH]
· All coverage of The Grand Canal on Eater [~EBOS~]
· All coverage of Nix's Mate on Eater [~EBOS~]