City pubs and bars imposing minimum spend if you want to get in!!

[Usernamesgain]

DH and I decided to have a day in our nearest city on Saturday. We would often, pre Covid, go into town, wander from pub to pub, have a meal, few drinks etc.

I understand that it’s now only possible to get a table if you book - it’s a pain but due to social distancing acceptable.

What I am annoyed about is that almost all the places we tried to book now impose a minimum spend to book that table!! So you can’t hop from place to place after an hour or two, you have to stay and reach this minimum spend.

I felt a bit disgusted by it tbh, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if pubs decide to keep this ‘rule’ going forward, nice little earner for them really.

The spontaneity of bar hopping will be gone. Having drinks out will be only for the people who can afford a long stay at the table, drinking heavily to meet the minimum spend.

Whereabouts is this happening?

Is this because of the Euros?

Tough one, it costs to clean your table when you've gone, and they don't want you sitting there for ages with a half glass of shandy

And bar hopping- not great for containing covid...

So I understand why you want to, but I also feel for the pub owners

How much was the minimum spend?

What’s the minimum spend? If it’s £20 that’s just a couple of glasses of wine in a city.

I can’t get angry at this tbh. I agree it is frustrating as a customer to need to prebook and be less spontaneous, but bars have been closed for months, are struggling for staff and need to secure their futures. I’d rather have a few months of booking and minimum spends to ensure I still have a choice of bars to visit in a year or so.

It's probably due to the football. It won't stay like it.

It makes complete sense. Bar hopping will be back soon enough, but for now when the overheads are so high to prepare for/clean up after one party of customers it makes total sense. If you're bar hopping then presumably your aggregate spend is higher than the minimum spend anyway so what's the issue for now?

I think saying something is a "nice little earner" is a tad insensitive for an industry that has spent most of the last 18 months shut or at 25-50% capacity. They cannot survive if people come in for a single drink taking up a table that others can use.

They've been closed for ages so I don't blame them not wanting to waste space on one person nursing a pint for 3 hours etc.

Where is this? I haven’t had this at all. I’ve had time limits (2hrs) and i’d assumed that’s because the amount you spend drops off after that which is fair enough.

I get why.

On a very simplistic level....

They have ten tables. If its 10 groups of six, spending a tenner each over two hours... thats £600 over 2hrs.
Its 10 groups of four, spending £7 each... £280.
10 couples, sharing a bottle of wine per table... £80.

What customers does the pub want?

Or put a minimum spend of say £40 per table over 2hrs... guaranteed £400, maybe more.

Where is this and how much is the minimum spend? Are you sure it's not just to hold the table and anything you don't spend will be refunded?

Sounds odd that every bar in town is doing that!

It was generally £30 per person so for DH and I £60. Okay if we wanted to stay all afternoon but that’s not what we like to do.

I hope it doesn’t stay, it will ruin the pleasure of hopping from place to place.

But you won’t have places to hop to if they don’t survive the next few months…

Nah, no way. We've been out in several towns and cities (including London and Edinburgh).

Not even paid a deposit to reserve a table never mind a £30 minimum spend per person. At every bar in town? Where are you?

I've been out few times for drinks now and no place wanted minimum spend. Where the heck are you drinking
Also even though most say booking, they have tables for walk in too

I dont blame them for wanting to secure minimum spends for someone taking a table or space, what if someone takes a table and sits chatting with only one non-alcoholic drink for hours. They've been closed for so long that they need a way to recoup costs and they need to do it now when there is a high demand for socialising after lockdown. I'd happily have this in my local area if it means they survive as a business going forward. If you want bar hopping to be possible in future you need all of those bars to survive in the coming years first.

Reducing the number of venues customers can visit in one day sounds like a sensible decision. Imagine you had been bar hopping in a busy city centre and then tested positive. It would spread like wildfire.

Also the chairs and tables need to be cleaned between every guest.

It will also deter loitering. I saw 2 women with 3 kids sit for ages (in the local pub) whilst one had a cup of tea. One even went out to the local shop and came back with croissants for the kids. The pub is trying to make a profit, these women took up a table which could have fit 6 drinking adults to spend probably about £3 drinking a tea for over an hour.

Well pubs aren't public services and need to stay afloat so while I agree it's annoying and makes a pub outing prohibitively expensive for lots of people I can't blame them for trying to make as much money as possible.

Also lots of people moving from pub to pub is still not overly sensible. Staying in one pub for the afternoon won't kills us.

I suspect it’s for the euros (though I live in a big city and haven’t heard of this happening!)
As they are on limited capacity the people who come in and spend 80p on a lime and soda and use it as their living room all day become a bit of an annoyance. Therefore they need to give the tables to punters?
It’s a bit crap but with england potentially playing on Saturday and a lot of demand for tables they can essentially do what they want.

Cover charges are commonplace in the States. Don't see the problem and can completely understand the rationale in these difficult times.
'Hopping' from place to place . . . 😒

This is a good thing. It will stop people going from bar to bar and getting more and more drunk in each and every place.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I get why.

On a very simplistic level....

They have ten tables. If its 10 groups of six, spending a tenner each over two hours... thats £600 over 2hrs.
Its 10 groups of four, spending £7 each... £280.
10 couples, sharing a bottle of wine per table... £80.

What customers does the pub want?

Or put a minimum spend of say £40 per table over 2hrs... guaranteed £400, maybe more.

Perfectly put.