The owner seemed irked that he had to appear before the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to answer an allegation that the bar had served a drunk patron. But he was also concerned.
“I take it very seriously,” Phil Corbo, owner of Main St. Sports Bar & Grill, told the ABCC commissioners in June. “All the bartenders are aware there is a zero-tolerance policy for overserving.”
Corbo may have been defensive, but he shouldn’t have been surprised.
The bar, one of a half dozen in downtown Plymouth – along with many other establishments that also sell beer, wine, and liquor – had previously been cited by the ABCC. It also has been the site of assaults, brawls, and drunken encounters, according to police reports obtained by the Independent under the state’s public records law.
Police were summoned to the bar more than 150 times between January 2020 and May 2024, according to police call logs. The numbers might have been even higher had the bar not been closed for several months in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.
Police described several incidents that began inside and spilled into the street. Several fights erupted as bouncers or security guards attempted to corral unruly customers and escort them out the door.
There were also calls to check on customers’ wellbeing, to arrange for an ambulance, to take reports of stolen property, and for traffic control.
Corbo, who bought the Main Street establishment in 2019, acknowledged that the bar, one of the few open late every night, is a favorite of twenty-somethings who are not always well behaved.
“Obviously, the younger demographic (being the early 20s crowd) tend to be less mature and cause more trouble than their older counterparts,” he wrote in an email.
But safety and security are top priorities, he said, and his staff is trained not to overserve customers or allow unruly patrons to start altercations. Corbo said there are trained security staff on site nightly and that the bar requests a police detail every Saturday “as a precaution.”
The staff “proactively works with the police at times to prevent any criminal or disorderly behavior before it occurs,” he said.
He also asserted that the bar’s address is often cited in police reports even if the call is for incidents that take place outside — in the street, or in the Middle Street parking lot behind the bar, which is owned by the town and has no security cameras.
And not every call resulted in an arrest or other police action. Sometimes the disturbance was over by the time officers arrived, or a call was deemed “accidental.”
Even so, between January 2020 and early March 2024, calls for a “disturbance” or “assault” at Main St. Sports Bar & Grill appear in the Plymouth police log 60 times.
By contrast, those two words appear in the log during that period fewer than 20 times for five other downtown bars combined. (The Independent requested a list of police calls to six downtown bars.)
On October 8, 2022, several officers were posted outside the bar because it was a Friday night and “Main Street Bar & Grill is often the source of disorderly behavior, physical assaults, domestic altercations, and other unlawful activity,” wrote officer Andrew Barry.
At around 1 a.m., police found a man on the ground in the Middle Street lot out back. He was breathing but unconscious, Barry wrote.
When he came to, he told police he had been in the bar and was walking through the parking lot when he was jumped by a gang of men — he didn’t know who they were, the police report said.
Police couldn’t identify his assailants — there were no witnesses and no cameras monitoring the lot.
(Town officials did not respond to questions about the lack of security cameras.)
There have been incidents of belligerent patrons upset when a bartender refused to serve them or when a bouncer attempted to remove them from the premises. There are also police reports detailing drunken patrons picking fights with other customers or employees.
Some bar guests complained that they were manhandled by bouncers, at least two of whom were criminally charged. The charges were eventually dismissed.
On November 5, 2020, a woman bleeding from the nose and mouth – and who temporarily lost consciousness – claimed a bouncer punched her in the face, according to a police report.
The woman told police she was assaulted as she tried to break up a fight that erupted when people trying to enter the bar at 10:15 p.m. were told there was a two-hour wait.
The bouncer, who no longer works at the bar, was charged with assault and battery. The case against him was continued without a finding and eventually dismissed in 2023, court records show.
On March 18, 2024, two men were stabbed in a late-night melee at the bar. When officers arrived at the scene at 11:50 p.m., they found two bloodied men, according to police.
They spotted one of them walking down Main Street — his clothes soaked in blood, police said. Inside the bar, another man was also bleeding “significantly” from his hand.
They arrested one person, but the assault and battery charges were later dismissed, court records show.
The three-member ABCC hasn’t yet issued a decision on the alleged violation found by state investigators when they visited the bar on March 1.
On that date, investigators, making a surprise visit, reported witnessing an “unidentified male individual to have glassy eyes with a dazed look, to be speaking with slurred speech and leaning on his friends who were seated at the bar.”
After watching him for nearly an hour, the investigators said, they saw him walk up to the bar where he was served a High Noon vodka seltzer and a shot of clear liquor, according to their report.
Corbo, several employees, and a lawyer for the bar all disputed that account, telling the panel the man didn’t seem drunk — he just looked like he was dancing and having a good time with his friends.
The bar had its license suspended for two days in 2022 after being accused of the same violation — overserving a customer. In 2017, it was cited by ABCC for overcrowding, and had its license suspended for three days, though Corbo didn’t own the bar at the time.
Corbo said that ABCC investigators have shown up at the bar many other times and found no violations.
The Plymouth Select Board, acting as the town’s licensing authority, holds hearings when a bar or restaurant applies for a license.
It could also enforce an array of liquor regulations put in place decades ago. The rules require training for servers and prohibit serving to minors, for example, or giving customers more than two drinks at a time.
The town hosts periodic meetings between ABCC staffers and license holders to make sure bar and restaurant owners are familiar with the laws and rules regulating alcohol use and sales.
The 1998 rules, which are posted on the town’s website, give the Select Board authority to modify, suspend, or revoke a license.
Instead, the town relies on ABCC to make sure bars and restaurants comply with rules regulating alcohol license holders, officials said.
ABCC investigators make surprise visits, but there are only 25 on staff, and they cover the entire state.
Police chief Dana Flynn said if police see or suspect violations when responding to a call, they can report them to ABCC, or to the fire department if they involve safety issues such as overcrowding.
Though the department is currently short 12 patrol officers, Flynn said, police will keep showing up even if the calls are for repeated disturbances at downtown locations.
“Not only do we continue to answer and respond to all calls for service without interruption, we also address the additional obligations and responsibilities that are required of public safety in a coastal community and tourist destination,” Flynn said.
Meanwhile, other bar owners said they feel for Corbo and seem grateful that Main St. Sports Bar & Grill caters to the customers they don’t really want.
“There have always been, and always probably will be, that one place or two places that tend to attract a more rowdy crowd,” said one bar owner, who asked not to be named to avoid becoming embroiled in any potential controversy.
“More establishments like mine have opted to go more for a restaurant vibe,” he said.
“They are the last place doing this kind of business downtown and I worry that if they go, they would be leaving that crowd with nowhere to land. I don’t know what would happen if Main St wasn’t there to bear it for all of us,” the owner said.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.