Following up on its Feb. 27 hearing reporting that the popular JFK Street bar the Crimson Sports Grille served alcohol to minors, the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) released its decision yesterday to suspend the bar's liquor license for 18 days-three days for each count of serving minors.

The commission sided with its investigators' recommendation and refused to accept the payment of a fine in lieu of the suspension, citing the Grille's "excessive history of violations."

Over the past decade, the commission has accepted five fines from the bar totaling about $12,000, each exempting the Grille from a license suspension for serving minors.

The bar's license will be suspended over commencement, from May 22 to June 8. During the February hearing, the Grille's attorney, James J. Rafferty, initially requested that if the commission voted to suspend the license, it impose the suspension after June 15, but he withdrew that request shortly afterward.

A month ago, Cambridge License Commission Executive Director Richard V. Scali said the commission intended to schedule a hearing on the bar's entire record after the ABCC released its decision.

However, Scali said yesterday that he no longer plans to schedule a hearing because he believes McCarthy plans to sell the establishment.

Scali said he had recently received inquiries regarding the status of the Grille's license from potential buyers.

"I've been led to believe from these inquiries that [a sale] could happen," Scali said. "There have been two or three in a short period of time, which means something's happening. They're at a very delicate stage in the negotiations."