Sunset Grill

Reason for going out
The bros and I were looking for a crazy night of drinking. We hoped to do some yards of beer at the Sunset Grill and then move on to something else. However, we were hooked by their food and beer selection and ended up spending our whole night there.

Atmosphere
The Sunset grill has the perfect dive vibe to it. A pink neon sign beckons to its customers to come inside for a cornucopia of beer. Once inside, the bar is packed with as many tables that the fire code may (or may not) allow. The place is dimly lit, and the walls are adorned with random stuff, ranging from a picture of the original little rascals to large beer posters and you can even find Kramer's ass-man license plate from Seinfeld. (Don't expect to find any proctologists at this place)

Drinks
The Grill boasts a selection of 112 beers on tap, and even more in bottle. The beer menu is pages long, and represents a wide variety of countries and brands. The bar also contains many novelty glasses and apparatuses for consuming your liquid dinner. Drinking yards of beer (a long, plastic container that measures a yard long and contains the equivalent of about 3 1/2 beers) was popular at our table. Most other tables enjoyed the economical beer towers that are the legal form of drinking from a keg in public. The hard liquor assortment is very limited (no Captain Morgan), but don't come here if you're not in the mood for beer.

Menu Category: Bar
There is one reason to eat the food at the Sunset Grill and that is portion size. The menu offers nothing special that is interesting or original. However, I was speechless when they brought out the plates of food. For a group of five, we ordered one plate of nachos and one plate of onion rings. We were hammered, hungry and ready to stuff our faces, yet we could not even finish half of either plate. The legs of the table were buckling under the weight (figuratively), and the food was piled up about 3 inches high (literally). At this place, don't be afraid to order a few things for the group. Your wallet and stomach will thank you later.

Service: Low
I don't have high standards when it comes to bar service, but there was not enough wait staff working. It took forever to get a drink at the bar, and once we sat down, I could recite the script from both Ghostbusters before we saw our waitress. (We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble.)

Personality: Neutral
I didn't see one type of person that dominated the crowd. Seems like a neutral, every person's bar.

Cash Monies: Medium
Lots of beer and lots of food and I wasn't horrified the next day when I took out my wallet. Pretty standard Boston prices.

Chick Talent: Low
It was a bigger sausage fest than the one held in Verboort, Oregon every year. (Apparently, when it started in 1934 they served 198 lbs of sausage) The few females in the place were not enough to bring the overall testosterone level of the place down.

Chick Friendliness: Low
If you can't hear the girls in the forest are they still friendly. I'm going to say probably not.

Group Friendliness: Low
Even with fun toys like yards and towers of beer, everyone still liked to keep to their own tables. I had higher expectations from a bar like this, but apparently even large vessels of beer weren't enough to thaw some friendliness into this place.

Would I bring a date here?: No
I like to think of this place as the anti-date location. In no way does this place offer a nice, romantic respite from city life. Plus the yards of beer may instill feelings of inadequacy.

Would I hang out here with my guy friends?: Yes
Perfect place to bring the boys to start a night out. Not only can you shower yourselves in greasy bar food and an overwhelming amount of beer, but the goal of drinking a yard adds a nice challenge for the night. You can hurl lines from Beerfest back and forth all night and not even worry about creeping out a group of hot chicks. An excellent bromantic get-away.

Would I hang out here with my lady friends?: No
The Sunset grill has a very limited menu of mixed drinks. It isn't the cleanest bar in Boston, and there is absolutely no dancing. I have a feeling any lady friends would quickly turn on you if you brought them to this place.

BLUF
This is a great place to hang out with a bunch of guy friends and enjoy some beer, food, and good times. It does make for a great pre-game for another bar, but if you are just looking to chill, this is also a great place to spend your night. Also, you get to keep any yards that you order, so the Sunset Grill becomes a place that keeps on giving if you are willling to take on the difficult task of refilling that glass.

Did I have fun?: Yes

130 Brighton Ave
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 254-1331
www.allstonsfinest.com