These Restaurant/Bar Groups Got Paid to Put Certain Beers On Tap

BOSTON, MA — An attorney for Boston restaurant companies Briar Group and Lyons Group told The Boston Globe this week that they had received "tens of thousands in kickbacks" from the Craft Brewers Guild in Everett, in exchange for putting the distributors' beers on tap in their bars and restaurants (and, consequently, icing out the competition).

That's perfectly legal, according to the companies, but it's nevertheless under scrutiny by the state's Alcohol Beverages Control Commission, the paper reports.

Briar operates bars including Anthem, Gather and the Green Briar, while Lyons' bars include Game On Fenway, Bleacher Bar, Kings Boston and the Lansdowne Pub. The Globe story names three other groups, as well.

>>> There's much more to the story, which you can read in full from The Boston Globe here.

Image via Global Panorama, Flickr/Creative Commons