No children in pub after 5pm

[SweetSouls]

My local banned children after 7pm a few years ago.

This seemed unnecessary to me, but I suppose that's after 'bed time' so I could sort of see the logic. Adult time etc.

On Saturday I went to stop there for a drink in the afternoon, and they have now banned children after 5pm.

This seems very odd to me given it's an area that people move to with their families. It's not some town centre boozer, it's surrounded by housing.

Is this just not terrible business? I do not get it at all.

It was almost empty, incidentally, at 5.15 on a Saturday afternoon.

They do. Both of the spoons around here (within 15 miles) allow dogs despite the signs saying assistance dogs only.

everywhere round here allows dogs. Even the library - which is ridiculous.

its one of the reasons it’s such a bold policy by the pub.

Its a lovely mixture of families and childless people of all ages, couldn't be further from a playground.

Ah we take DS to the local pub quite often! It has a play area, a no smoking beer garden (as well as a smoking friendly beer garden at the other side) and kids are ONLY allowed in this are and the restaurant. No kids at the bar, no kids in the bar area, no kids in the smoking beer garden.

They've made it this way to encourage parents to stay longer and spend more money. We often go there when it's someone's birthday (one of our adult friends who has kids as well).

But we do also have another pub nearby which is strictly adults only. It's handy having one of each nearby so we can tailor our visits accordingly.

I think this is great, there’s nothing wrong at all with having some adult only spaces and the odd pub seems like the perfect candidate for that. They always used to be adult only, our local when I was a kid didn’t let children in the bar, but they had a conservatory with a pool table and a garden where they were allowed until 7pm (from memory).

Actually yeah, our local spoons allows dogs. Or there are dogs in there when you go...usually under table dogs that you don't notice are there until they're getting up to leave.

I didn't know either, but Google did! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiWadi

Which is great for the people who like that.

Not so great if you want an adult-only space.

There is room for both, so it’s up to the business what they want to do. I do get annoyed with people on social media who actively campaign against places that don’t allow children / dogs, though. There are enough spaces where both are welcome already!

I wish my local would do it.

I like to take my dogs and the children harass them.

Fair enough.

5pm seems early to me but their pub their choice. They must have some sort of logic.
My only comment is really people on here are picturing "children" as pre-teens running around the place. Lots of young teens still classed as children are more likely to be found slient in a corner on their phone.

And I have to laugh at the suggestions of softplay and library's they aren't going to be open on a Saturday night either.

I take my kids pretty much everywhere and have done so since they were small. As a result they have learnt that you sit still and don’t talk or rustle sweet papers at the theatre, you walk through galleries/museums and use your inside voice, you stay in your seat in a restaurant or on a train and get on with some colouring or reading or play cards etc.

They are not perfect and they need to be reminded from time to time but I’ve seen plenty of adults behaving spectacularly less well than them in all the above environments.

Maybe if you want to talk about something you don’t want kids in a pub to hear you could just talk a bit more quietly? I bet plenty of adults at the next table would just as soon not listen to your conversation anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️

I will change the children to old people . Do you still have the same attitude ? Or is it ageism only accepted when it’s convenient?

We were sat in the car outside the pub with our bottle of coke and bag of crisps. We weren't allowed in.

I live in a commuter belt which is very family friendly and we have a local which only allows children in the garden so great on a summer's day, but non an option on a rainy Sunday afternoon for a roast and a pint.

Coincidentally, I managed a child free lunch with my mum recently and the place was packed. They're still lots of other places to go which we enjoy for a meal with the kids in tow.

You could drop them an email saying "I noticed the pub was nearly empty at 5:15 on saturday and you lost out on about £XX of our custom due to not allowing children after 5pm. Obviously this is your choice but if you decide you would like to attract more customers in the 5pm-7pm slot please let me know"

It might be that they are perfectly happy having a quiet few hours between the lunchtime rush and the evening session. We went to a pub yesterday afternoon between 5 and 6:30 and it was fairly chaotic with lots of families. I can imagine the staff might have felt like they were ready to go home by the time the families went away and the evening drinkers started arriving

Or sitting on the step with a lemonade and a packet of crisps, no-one coming out to see if they were OK or even still there!
I was very surprised the other week when I went down to the quiz and took my granddaughter who was staying with me, my team had bought my usual drink and someone gave her money to go and get a coke, I didn't even realise that children could go to the bar! At one time no child was allowed near the bar, even with an adult.

The kind of ” not everyone wants to be with your children “atitude is revolting ! I don’t want to be with most people , I’m not people person , doesn’t mean I get to dictate what others do , some people get annoyed by old people , as a example , should we just ban old people from supermarkets because they are slow some smell funny ( it’s a example not my believe at all ) they drive badly etc etc .
Do you not realise you live in society and children are part of it . They should be seen and heard even if they are annoying .

Honestly this is so cultural ! We don’t see this in other countries

Not considering children to be the centre of the Universe is not being unfriendly, in other countries where children are worshipped and pandered to they can be a total pain.

When I was little my dad would come home from work on a Friday to find two pairs of eyes looking at him and two little voices asking if we could go to the pub tonight. It was in Hook, Hants in the 1980s and both pubs we visited had children’s playgrounds in the garden. There were always other children to play with and the adults all sat outside having a quiet drink. I don’t ever remember seeing my parents drunk. We left in 1989 so I don’t know what happened to the pubs.

As a young adult though I worked in a Brewers Fayre. Adults threatening violence when the barman cut them off because they had children with them, children deliberately throwing crisps on the floor and then stamping into the carpet, parents who have had a hard day at work and cannot understand why they still need to parent and so the children run riot. I can fully understand why pubs may restrict when children are allowed in or not allow them in at all.

What an odd email. Sounds more like you're trying to sell them marketing packages.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Elderly people are adults. It’s not about ageism. It’s about a kiddie-free space, like it used to be. Why should adults wait for a table because little Timothy is eating a jam roly poly and colouring in. All wrong.

Really , because most Mediterranean countries take their kids everywhere and they are better behaved , eat a diverse diet , have less obesity rates , less bullying rates .

I’d assume the pub will be monitoring takings and will switch back if they’re losing too much custom. They probably don’t need business acumen lessons from OP.

It may be that they start attracting people who prefer something other than a “chaotic family” atmosphere, and takings actually go up.

You can’t change kids to the elderly, children are not adults, the elderly are. There’s lots of things we don’t let children do, it’s not ageism, or should your toddler be able to drink a pint at the bar too?!

You are absolutely right!