The Crimson Sports Grille may be forced to temporarily go dry following citations for serving underage patrons.

Investigators for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) recommended yesterday that the state temporarily suspend the alcohol license of the Grille--a JFK Street restaurant and sports bar popular with Harvard students--in response to six counts of serving alcohol to minors.

ABCC investigators carded and questioned the students--four first-years and a sophomore at Harvard and one first-year at Cornell--in a sting conducted around midnight on Dec. 15.

All six students said they had been admitted with out-of-state drivers licenses that were either fake or did not belong to them.

Investigators confiscated the licenses and entered them into evidence at a hearing held yesterday at the ABCC office in downtown Boston.

The Grille's lawyer, James J. Rafferty, did not dispute that the students had been served, but requested yesterday that the Grille be able to pay a fine in lieu of the suspension, pointing to the safeguards taken by owner Paul C. McCarthy.

"There is a doorman in place who checks IDs and a policeman on paid detail [employed by McCarthy for the evening]," Rafferty said. "Both checks are designed to prevent the kind of incident that brings us here today."

Rafferty initially requested that if the commission decided on suspension, it defer enforcement until area colleges recess in June. He withdrew this request after conferring with McCarthy during the hearing.