To say that there should be some adult only options?

[TooPoor4PandaPooTea]

Pubs making the decision to ban children

‘It dictated the whole atmosphere’: why some landlords are banning kids from pubs | Pubs | The Guardian https://share.google/E6IXhVu1U5Iv9vP7n

Pubs that do meals would do well to keep it as a family establishment. Pubs that only serve drinks and packets of crisps could maybe take the risk and ban kids and be fine…… I think it’s business-suicide to ban kids totally though, especially with summer just around the corner. Typically, a lot of families spend time at a pub with a nice beer garden and a climbing frame for the kiddies during the hotter months.

Yes it has. More than once. Happy now?

This a really good point. I’ve always taken a bag of activities with me to keep my eldest entertained at the table while we are waiting for food etc, most parents don’t do that, so having places provide board games encourages them to sit at the table. Although I can’t stand parents who allow their kids to run riot, they are children and they are only running about most of the time due to boredom!

Absolutely agree OP. I know many people who avoid going to the pub because of the amount of badly supervised children running around and screaming.

Certainly in an evening they are likely to make more on adults drinking than a fruit shoot and a pack of crisps.

Family pubs have their place, but so do pubs where adults can drink, chat and yes, even swear, without being glared at!

Gell aaaat my pub!!!!

Just started this discussion on Jeremy Vine... (R2)

Its the parents who are the issue not the children.

Our local pub attracts groups of parents with small children on Sundays. They serve burgers/fries only, but we’ve noticed that they seem to order one drink each for the adults only, drink about two-thirds (so the glass doesn’t get taken) then get glasses of tap water. They may order a portion or two of chips but always bring food, snacks and drinks for the children. They stay about 3-4 hours as there’s live music on. The worst part is the number of prams. The children are fine! I love to see them bopping about to the music. I just feel the pub isn’t making much on this. We like to order food and we’d have at least 3 drinks in a similar time but often there’s nowhere to sit so we’ll just stay for a drink or two standing and move on. Most leave fine but some also leave all their mess behind! The time I was really upset was when we managed to get a small table for two so ordered food and drinks, a dad with a pram got the bar staff to move our table into a corridor so his (large) pram could be where our table was. That was the height of entitlement and we couldn’t see/hear the band.

We've always taken the kids to pubs at the weekends. We'd go with friends, get a huge table and get the kids set up with colouring books, cards and games and stay for a few hours. They'd love seeing their friends and we'd be able to get dressed up, leave the house and have a few social drinks.

As it was a treat day, they'd have an endless supply of drinks and snacks and there was never any running off (we'd have removed them immediately) although when they got bigger, they'd be able to go to the park next door on their own as long as they checked in with us every so often.

They're adults now and it costs us a lot more to take them to the pub than it did when they were little ones!

Oh happened to my cousin too! They felt awful.

Nonsense. Awful parents raise awful children. It may not be the child’s fault, doesn’t make them any less awful to be around. Same thing to me.

It would be nice but it’s not that easy.

YABU to presume there's any 'should' when it comes to who private businesses choose to cater for. You've no more right to adult only options than parents do to a pub that allows children.

I was a barmaid back in the day and have narrowly missed tripping over children, even at night. They would try to come behind the bar, run in front of me and the waiting staff, scream and the parents didn’t give a shit

We took our 3 year old for a Sunday roast at a nice Islington pub the other day. The pub were fantastic, didn't have a kids menu but gave us a couple of fried eggs for her (which she loved), and she got busy with her little sticker book. My oartner and I ordered a roast each, couple of soft drinks too.

It would be so miserable if pubs took such a hard-line stance as to not have any kids at all ever, and it would put me off visiting even without a child. It's hard enough keeping kids involved in London, it's not a super child friendly place.

There are plenty of child friendly restaurants, cafes and pubs. It’s not unreasonable for people to want the option to go to an adult only pub.

Ime, the families spent a lot less than people having a few drinks and if the drinkers stay away, they will struggle even more

With 8 pubs a week closing in the UK you would need a VERY strong business case for banning any of your customers. If it was clear cut that pubs were loosing money because they allowed children I am pretty sure quite a few of them would soon go child free.

Indeed, just as the ones that do ban children likely have done that for a business reason.

I wonder how these people who think they ought to have particular options want this to be achieved. Should venues who presumably think their current admission policies are the best ones available to them be obliged to change them because some people think they're entitled to a service?

Theres a balance though - when its making people stay away because they cant have a drink without badly supervised children, then that is effectively ensuring they can’t or won’t use your establishment

And look at the whining on social media when they dare suggest that!

There are a couple of adults only places near me now. Somewhat ironically, they are the places I wish I could bring my older teen because she loves mocktails. Both these establishments feature bartenders of the mixologist variety who have created elaborate alcoholic and non alcoholic menus. She isn’t allowed in though. That is fine. It’s a business decision and I understand it.

Maybe the people who think this need to start gathering some good quality evidence then. Because if you can make a good enough business case that barring kids will be more lucrative than allowing them, some venues will go along with it.

I think I would almost rather go to a family friendly place than some wanky ‘mixology’ type place 🤣

Except when someone does this, there is an outcry from the entitled people who think their children should indeed be allowed to be unsupervised to run riot.

And actually I have voted with my feet - I go out around once a year now - I used to spend hours a week in the pub and spent loads.