"Even the Harvard kids support their own teamswhen they're on TV," Kline said.

The Grille repays sports teams for theirloyalty. Harvard soccer player Naomi S. Miller '99said the bar lets the team use a back room towatch its videotaped games.

"It's a good sports bar. We're on the soccerteam so we come here to watch games," Miller said,speaking for her teammates Emily Stauffer '98-'99and Jennifer Burney '99.

"There's not many bars here in Cambridge,"Stauffer said. "If you show up at the Grilleyou're more likely to see people you know."

Though bartender Kevin Tessner estimates thatHarvard students make up about 50 percent of theGrille's patrons, he first went to the bar as anundergraduate at Boston College (BC).

Tessner, who graduated last spring, said manyBC students make the trek on Thursday nightseither by bus or a $10 cab ride. Students fromTufts and Boston University also frequent theGrille.

"It's a good bar to hang out at. It's a funcrowd," Tessner said.

According to Tessner, "cheap beer, good foodand a college crowd," draw Grille regulars foreach new season.

The Grille's reputation spreads by word ofmouth, according to Kline, who added that the bardoes little advertising. ESPN Magazine's citationdidn't even make the walls, which instead displaybeer advertisements and sports memorabilia.

Although the Grille prides itself on a studentcrowd, Kline added that the Grille rigorouslychecks identification to ensure its revelers areover 21.

"They've got to have a proper ID to get in,"Kline said, declining to comment on the bar'srun-ins with the Cambridge Licensing Commissionlast fall.

In a November hearing the Grille's alcohollicense was restored after a six-day suspension. Alicense commission sting operation had foundseveral underage patrons at the bar in October1996