No children in pub after 5pm

Absolutely!

They’ve probably had a look at their customer demographics and realised that lunchtime is full of families and evening is couples/ adult groups and that neither section of their customer base is particularly fond of the other.
Families and adult friend groups with their children in tow tend to take ages to get themselves packed up and gone after a meal so the staff have probably given themselves a bit of a buffer zone to clear up the mess and restock the bar before the evening starts. The lingering families probably haven’t been spending much by 5pm, just hanging out.

I was a pub licensee many years ago and back then (horrible!) split shifts were pretty common, if there isn’t much coming in through the til between 5-7pm the management likely want to cut down to minimal staff through that slot and have everyone back on for the evening rush.

If families stop the majority of their spending by 5 the business isn’t going to want to pay a full rota of staff through the quiet period just to supervise bored kids.

Computerised tills were already pretty sophisticated at customer analytics 25 years ago so I would imagine that by now, patterns of lulls in sales are even easier to spot. Probably sent straight through from till to office as a matter of course.

Margins of a profit in the bar/pub business are pretty wafer thin so if high volume alcohol sales on the smallest number of staff hours possible is what’s keeping your local afloat, they are obvs gonna prioritise that customer group over the ones who buy a meal but occupy a lot of space (compared to standing adults).

Don’t take it personally OP, I’m sure there is nothing wrong with your kids and your local doesn’t dislike families, they are likely just tightening their belt to keep the business afloat.

It is a business decision. Our village pub ( no other amenities ) was taken over a few years back by owners who had previously run town pubs. They immediately banned children after 7pm. Quite a few people respectfully fedback, that this would mean they couldn’t frequent the pub as they had children of any age who could’ve be left alone and that on the rare occasions they got a babysitter they preferred to travel into town. But, we all recognised it was their decision to make. Within a month they changed their minds they had completely underestimated and misunderstood the demographic of the village! They had cut themselves off from a huge percentage of their business.

Yes, it is!

Seems responsible of the pub, to me.

In Southern Europe, often they don't have pubs, more bars.

If by Southern Europe you also encompass France, they have tabacs/bars, truck stops, which are mostly for men/women and definitely not children. Children can however, and are welcomed in most restaurants, but the French, generally expect good behaviour in return.

From my understanding inns/pubs/public houses are mostly for adults to drink in, not under 18s. I even recall a rule about you had to be 16 to be allowed to bought for you by an adult who was over 18. It was or is at the landlord's discretion whether to allow you entry and whether to serve you a drink, if you were under age or had had too much to drink, or were with a child, they could refuse entry or bar you.

My parents ran the gauntlet of trying to get us into pubs on holiday and a local one, and even then, it was mostly in the pub garden or in the games room, again at the landlord's discretion.

It's only been since 80s onwards (I I think?) that some but not all pubs have generally become more family friendly.

Absolutely their business, their choice. I got fed up as a single person (or even when I did have a DP, to find kids constantly either running around, babies crying, when I was there to have a drink/meal.

Last year, Christmas, same thing, parents there with babies/young children at a pub where we went in Crouch End, great for them to be able to take them there but not so much so if and when they cry/misbehave.

Parents also sometimes do or do not parent their kids in pubs, the amount of times I've had to listen to an ipad with sound on full blast, had kids running around nearly tripping up serving staff carrying hot food and drinks or listen to a baby crying, when they should have been taken out of the saloon or whatever bar it was in the pub. It doesn't make for an enjoyable or relaxing evening or even daytime event (but I appreciate weekend meals are nice for families) for me and my DP/friends/families.

#teampub

Sadly they will have banned all because of the behaviour of a few

Perhaps it's an oddity of my pub going habits, but I never see children in pubs! (And I do go to quite a range, at different times.)

Plenty of adults in pubs are capable of being just an antisocial as children manage in other contexts.

Sounds brilliant!

Same here except it was a bottle of Coke for me. That Coke and the crisps felt like such a treat! 😄

Works for me; I'm getting sick and tired of those who seem to confuse "family friendly" with an invitation to let their kids behave exactly as they want and never mind anyone else

It would be different if they banned kids completely, but they already have the rest of the opening hours to climb, race and shriek, so it doesn't seem too much to ask that the rest of us get a bit of peace in the evenings

Are we supposed to think it's admirable for young children to be up at nearly midnight? Just because it's supposedly done 'on the continent'?

TBF they've probably gained some adult custom to balance it out.

Glad to hear it.

The pub is entitled to pitch at whatever custom they want, within the law. They've no obligation to provide you with your preferred option OP, and the same is equally true for the people in the thread who think pubs should be adult only.

Well therein lies the rub, a fair few people think that anywhere they choose to go does have the obligation to provide them with their preferred option - even if it's not offered by that venue.

Rather than find somewhere that does cater to
their preference, people want to go anywhere and have their preference catered to regardless, and clearly think they have the right to demand this, or threads like this wouldn't exist.

a RESTAURANT near me has a no children under 7 after 5pm rule. Which isn't even dinnertime! they've lost a good few hundred ££ worth of custom from I and my extended family now. It's in a family friendly seaside town as well. tragic.

I think people are getting confused with restaurants that have a bar and actual pubs that don't serve food in the evenings.

Yes my favourite part of the debate -all European children sit still, behave impeccably and eat everything!

Years of travel in Europe (including working in restaurants) I can safely say they are kids! Often in feral holiday mode, often snot/ice cream covered, usually stuffing chips down their faces by the pool, moaning at the dinner table, on Ipads, asleep in pushchairs and screeching like banshees - honestly children don't have some genetic difference because they (luckily) have red passports!

Good for them. I'd actively seek them out for afterwork drinks or a night out with my husband!

The number of kids I see running around tables in pubs while staff are trying to carry food is astonishing. I can totally see this being an insurance issue.

To be honest though, most other European countries seem to parent their children better, and raise them to behave in settings where there’s drink and food being consumed. When abroad, I can always tell the nationality of those kids running riot around the dining tables versus the ones sitting politely and nicely at the table. 99% of the time the badly parented ones belong to the Brits I’m afraid.

Yes in my experience in Portugal proper local bars in villages & towns are full of mostly men drinking and watching football. No food is served at all

Find a family friendly one or go to a restaurant? Most people hate kids in pubs. I can't remember the last time I saw children in a pub past lunchtime, so I think the 5pm rule is fine.

In a bar or restaurant?

I’ve lived in all the countries you mentioned and a couple more and it’s not a myth it happens , just a few days ago we went out for dinner in Portugal and stayed up until midnight and lots if families where still there including ones with babies