Sunset Filing for Bankruptcy

Ouch, I liked the place. Definitely ahead of the curve , but the competition is stiff these days

 

Is Taffer busy? Always thought that place needed a complete makeover. But seriously, that kind of hole sounds purely like bad management.

 

Damn, I hope they can right the ship. I get why it's not the #1 beer destination on most lists here, but Boston (Allston especially) is waaay better for having it exist. Even in that neighborhood alone it fills a niche that Lulu's and Deep Ellum don't.

And tbh though I'd argue they've got most things a buck or two too high, the beer list is underrated at this point.

 

Used to go there a lot back when our choices were that and publick house. Their tap lines used to always be a mess. Not always the right beer, and not always clean lines either. Still, sad to hear it's in bad shape. I'll never forget when the bartender accidentally poured me a pint of some 16% Strong ale.(should have been like 4 or 6). I forgot a lot after, but I won't forget that pour. Whoops.

 

A dinosaur from the early era of Boston craft. I loved the place in the 90s -- cool atmosphere - always packed - and 125 on tap -- just a crazy number for the era. But of course that was before a young beer drinker (me) understood freshness and the impact of time on keg beer. "Can I see your list of beers tapped within the last 3 months please?" was always my first thought. I haven't been back since my nephews 21st back on the night when Bucholz pitched a no-no. I still remember getting a yard -- and that was and is still a cool thing about the place (have they now gone to plastic yards?). Not many of the dinosaurs still survive -- CBC is probably the last outside of the big Brewers. At least in Boston the dinosaurs get put out to pasture -- unlike other parts of NE and all the Pugsley establishments....

 

Sunset's issues have always been there since the beginning - crummy beer lines, marginal food, scattershot service, strange pricing/pour size strategies- but they managed to get by because they were one of the few places doing good beer. Not so the case any more, & they're seeing the consequences.

Marc is a good guy & I don't like seeing him struggle, he's really one of the craft beer pioneers around here. But he didn't adapt with the times & the scene has passed him by. Perhaps it would just be best if the place shuts down entirely at this point.

I do have fond memories of getting erroneous 16oz pours of Stone Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard back in the day, though.

 

How do they even incur that level of debt? To my knowledge there haven't been any major expenditures (renovations, expansions, etc.) so have they just been operating at a loss for years?

 

My thoughts exactly. Maybe my naivete, but their inventory can't be more than like 100,000 even with a cellar. Payroll?

 

Love the place still and had 10x the fun there in the early 2000's before the craft thing actually took off and it was still fun to find a random six and try new beers time. No one really cared about freshness and 3 day old hopped forward beers. If anything it was more fun to go there for 14 oktoberfests style beers draft or the best selection of winter warmers out at the time. I'll argue all day that trying out new drafts of winter seasonales was way more enjoyable then pissing over hops in IPAs(I do love ipas) it was much more simple then and I really think sunset nailed it. Aside from the generic college kids it was mainly a place I could meet up with other friends in the city who dug craft like bike messages, nerds, hardcore kids, skaters, etc. it brought in a real diverse crowd as opposed to the kel or white horse near it. Even deep ellum at the time wasn't that much different or more impressive. This shit really didn't start to go sideways until around 2011. What irks me is a lot of kids that shit on sunset now never even had had a real craft beer before they found heady topper and became a craf beer dick. It used to be fun, and I'm glad no one ever used to say, neck beard. I love sunset and Marc had been nice to us in the past. For any of their faults they made up for it in fun. I still have a fuck ton of their menus I saved over the years and remember saying some day I'll look back at these and see what's chsnged. If anything it's more pathetic how entitled the crowd is now

 

According to the Herald article 4.2 to the landlord, 500 K in taxes, the other million who knows

 

Interesting, Sunset Grill is always packed when I go.

 

I agree with Sunset Grill. They did just expand that space, but I don't think it was that much expansion. It's really the only choice that I have found near Agganis with a decent beer choice. I can't go to the Allston places as then the lot fills closer to game time.

 

Man that amount of debt is heavy and I agee with the poster above that any time I have gone it's been packed.

I would be sad to see this place go, only to be replaced by condos or something unneccesary. Kinda like losing the Rat in Kenmore...its a staple of Allston to me.

Now, does anyone remember when you could park against the building and even the little lot in the back. Or when sleepy's(even before them) in the lot to the left would let you park there, any hardly anyone know.

 

I wonder if New Balance will buy it.