Grendel's Den

Last updated
Grendel's Den
Grendel's Den, Cambridge, 2023-02-21.jpg
Grendel's Den
Restaurant information
Established1971
City Cambridge, Massachusetts
Country United States
Website Official website

Grendel's Den is a bar and restaurant in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, located at 89 Winthrop Street. The establishment is frequented by both students and professors of Harvard University as well as many others from the Cambridge and Boston area. The name was a reference to Grendel, the antagonist in the Old English epic Beowulf .

Contents

The restaurant is perhaps most famous for the lawsuit Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. , 459 U.S. 116 (1982), [1] which reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 1982. The suit challenged the Massachusetts state blue law (16C) allowing a school or a religious institution within 500 feet of a liquor license applicant to prevent the issuance. The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of Grendel's Den, holding that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the lower court. [2]

The restaurant is also a favorite of actor and director Ben Affleck, who shot portions of his 2010 film The Town there. [3]

History

Opened in 1971 by Sue and Herbert Külzer, the bar was given its name by Sue, guided by her BA in literature and by the bar's location under a business called The Troll's Club. [4] It was originally home to Harvard's Pi Eta Club, a now defunct final club. [5]

Related Research Articles

Boston College Law School is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a 40-acre (160,000 m2) wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Americas, with a recognized history dating to the establishment of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature in 1692 under the charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Square</span> Plaza in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the business district and Harvard University surrounding that intersection, which is the historic center of Cambridge. Adjacent to Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, the Square functions as a commercial center for Harvard students, as well as residents of western Cambridge, the western and northern neighborhoods and the inner suburbs of Boston. The Square is served by Harvard station, a major MBTA Red Line subway and a bus transportation hub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurence Tribe</span> American lawyer and law school professor

Laurence Henry Tribe is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He previously served as the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Square, Cambridge</span> United States historic place

Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered on the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street and Main Street, is also considered a part of the Central Square area. Harvard Square is to the northwest along Massachusetts Avenue, Inman Square is to the north along Prospect Street and Kendall Square is to the east along Main Street. The section of Central Square along Massachusetts Avenue between Clinton Street and Main Street is designated the Central Square Historic District, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Porcellian Club is an all-male final club at Harvard University, sometimes called the Porc or the P.C. The year of founding is usually given as 1791, when a group began meeting under the name "the Argonauts", or as 1794, the year of the roast pig dinner at which the club, known first as "the Pig Club" was formally founded. The club's motto, Dum vivimus vivamus is Epicurean. The club emblem is the pig and some members sport golden pigs on watch-chains or neckties bearing pig's-head emblems.

Grendel is the antagonist in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.

Lincoln's Inn Society was the only social club based at Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its name echoed Lincoln's Inn in London, which is one of the four Inns of Court where English barristers are based. Originally, Lincoln's Inn was known as Choate Inn of the International Legal Fraternity of Phi Delta Phi but became a private club when the Harvard Faculty voted to ban all fraternities in 1907. The Inn was a student-run refuge where students meet to relax after hard weeks of study. As a student-owned club, Lincoln's Inn is beyond university regulation. The Inn had a diverse and dynamic membership that was open to all members of the HLS community. Lincoln's Inn membership was once strictly male but it now admits women, and women have been President of the Society on numerous occasions. It has become especially popular with first-year students as a way to meet their classmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Middle East (nightclub)</span> Venue and restaurants in Massachusetts, US

The Middle East is an entertainment complex consisting of five adjacent dining and live music venues in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its three dedicated concert spaces, Upstairs, Downstairs, and Sonia, sit alongside ZuZu and The Corner, two restaurants that also host live music. Having featured a huge variety of musicians since 1987, the establishment was described in 2007 as "the nexus of metro Boston's rock-club scene for local and touring bands" by the Boston Phoenix.

Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984), was a United States Supreme Court case challenging the legality of Christmas decorations on town property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Club</span> Harvard College social club

The Fox Club is a private all-male final club of Harvard undergraduate students founded in 1898. The Fox Club is not officially affiliated with Harvard University. It is located on John F. Kennedy Street in Harvard Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Club of Boston</span> Private social club in Boston, Massachusetts

The Harvard Club of Boston is a private social club located in Boston, Massachusetts. Its membership is open to alumni and associates of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The Back Bay Clubhouse is located in Boston's historic Back Bay neighborhood, at 374 Commonwealth Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard University Police Department</span>

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), a private police agency of Harvard University, is a full-service police department responsible for the safety and security of students, faculty, staff, and visitors at the university’s Cambridge and Boston campuses. The HUPD’s chief of police, since 1996, is Francis D. “Bud” Riley. The chief performs his duties under the direction of the university’s general counsel, Robert W. Iuliano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie's Kitchen</span>

Charlie's Kitchen is a restaurant serving American fare with New England specialties in the Harvard Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Charlie’s” houses bars on two separate floors; additionally, a front patio and backyard beer garden are open seasonally. The Boston Phoenix named it one of the best dive bars in Boston in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizard Lounge</span>

The Lizard Lounge is a nightclub situated in between Harvard Square and Porter Square on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is below the restaurant Cambridge Common. It may be a small basement bar, but it is known for the musicians it hosts. The owners also own Cambridge Common and Toad – another live music venue. They carry a large selection of beers, including many local ones such as those made at Cambridge Brewing Company.

This is a timeline of the history of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

Janis M. Berry is an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 2001 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Roy</span> American politician

Jeffrey N. Roy is a State Representative in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Court. Roy represents the 10th Norfolk District, which includes the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts in its entirety and Precincts 2, 3 and 4 of the Town of Medway, Massachusetts. Roy was elected on the 6th of November, 2012.

Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc., 459 U.S. 116 (1982), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the enforcement of liquor laws by a non-government entity. Massachusetts had established a law that allowed any church or school located within 500 feet (150 m) of an establishment seeking a liquor license to object to that license. The Supreme Court, in an 8–1 decision, ruled that Massachusetts' law violated the Establishment Clause as it delegated powers normally reserved to the government to non-government entities, and would allow decisions to be made along religious lines, effectively advancing religious purposes.

References

  1. Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. , 459 U.S. 116 (1982).
  2. Wexler, Jay (2009). Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN   9780807000441.
  3. Fennimore, Jillian (2009-09-14). "Ben Affleck films new movie at Harvard Square's Grendel's Den". Wicked Local Cambridge. Archived from the original on 2010-12-06.
  4. Culinary Cambridge
  5. Sun, Grace (2011-04-01). "Grendel's Den Reaches 40th". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2021-05-22.

Coordinates: 42°21′38.06″N71°07′16.93″W / 42.3605722°N 71.1213694°W / 42.3605722; -71.1213694