Estella Restaurant’s license suspended after Patriots party
Estella Restaurant in downtown Boston will face a one-day license suspension, the Boston Licensing Board voted Thursday, after a post-AFC championship party with Patriots players got out of control in January.
“A three day suspension, one day to be served, two days held in abeyance for a period of one year should this licensee violate any provision of Chapter 138 or the board’s rules,” board member Daniel Green read the ruling during a Thursday hearing.
Estella Restaurant was charged with violations including the sale of liquor after hours, permitting the smoking of hookah and cannabis indoors and unauthorized adult entertainment, the Licensing Board presented at a Tuesday hearing.
Police and the restaurant owner recounted the early hours of Jan. 27 — a day after the Patriots won the AFC Championship in Denver — detailing a party at the restaurant with multiple unnamed Patriots players that involved exotic dancers, hookah and weed, alcohol after closing, and one dollar bills strewn across the floor of the basement.
Estella’s owner Helder George Brandao said he told the party they were “doing too much” and had to leave that night, but noted there’s a “sense of entitlement that these players think they can do whatever they want.”
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Police were called to the establishment shortly after 2 a.m. and remained after closing, documenting about 30 people in the basement, the “very strong” smell of marijuana and tobacco, “no less than six large hookahs” appearing to be concealed under tables, a DJ with an amp blasting music, and “no less than three women who were either nude or partially nude” later found hiding in the back stairwell.
The Patriots players left without paying their tab, Brandao said Tuesday, calling it the “least of our concerns” and noting he considered filing a lawsuit against the athletes.
