Tier 2 pubs - Alcohol only served with a substantial meal - how the fuck is that actually going to work in practice

[JovialNickname]

So according to the papers a lot of us are going to end up in a more severe tier 2, post lockdown. How on earth is the above going to work on a practical level? Obviously "wet" pubs will remain closed. For pubs that serve food it really sounds as if you can only get a drink with a meal. So can you drink for a couple of hours first if you promise to order food at the end? What happens if after those couple of hours you decide you're not hungry and leave? Once you've eaten do you have license to then stay as long as you want? Do you have to keep the dishes as proof? Can you share a meal with someone. Do you have to eat it. Can there be some food bank type scheme where you give the dinner you don't want (that you've had to order cos of covid) to someone that's going hungry (cos of covid). If none of the above applies and you can literally only have a drink with a meal, then why would anyone go to a pub rather than a restaurant,and why would any food pub even bother to open given that most of their revenue comes from drinks? In addition, like the rule of six, this announcement appears to place the onus on pubs to enforce government restrictions; ignoring the massive, insulting contradiction that pubs are being asked to refuse customers and therefore being made to sound the death knoll for their own business.

@Flev

Threads like this make me realise how little attention people "down south" paid to the restrictions elsewhere previously!

Why would you pay strict attention to restrictions elsewhere? It's mildly interesting to know how other places are dealing with it, but you don't need to memorise the details of other places' lockdown rules!

Your suggestions are stupid and I think you know that. The point of this is to stop people drinking too much, because drunk people are more likely to get too close to strangers. So you order a drink at the same time as your food. If you then are still eating and want another drink, you can order another. Once you've finished your meal, you finish your drinks and leave. Its really very simple to understand.

why would anyone go to a pub rather than a restaurant
Because pubs serve different food and have a different atmosphere to restaurants. Plenty of people pre covid would go to a pub for dinner and a few drinks, you dont have to stay and drink a night just because it's a pub.

How it works is that you basically go out for dinner and have a few drinks with it. They want to avoid people horsing back loads of alcohol and getting very drunk. It worked fine where we are in Scotland before we moved to level 3. I've no idea what the problem is.

It’ll be the same as it was before. You can go out for a meal, and have a drink with it, but you can’t go out on the sesh.

there was a genuine debate over the substantiality (or otherwise) of 11 inch pizza slices in Manchester.

@TheTurnOfTheScrew

there was a genuine debate over the substantiality (or otherwise) of 11 inch pizza slices in Manchester.

And whether adding a salad made a Cornish pastie a substantial meal.

Also what constituted a “table”.

I think they had to do something to keep Wetherspoons open as they sell meals, I doubt the government are bothered about other pubs.

It worked pretty well where I was, most pubs stayed open as usual as already serve food, some starting serving food, people made bookings and had a couple of drinks with their food. Wasnt complex.

We tend to only go when we are eating so I don't see the problem. I think there was a two drink per person per main course before

@ApolloandDaphne

How it works is that you basically go out for dinner and have a few drinks with it. They want to avoid people horsing back loads of alcohol and getting very drunk. It worked fine where we are in Scotland before we moved to level 3. I've no idea what the problem is.

I can’t wait for our local to reopen and go to eat a meal I haven’t cooked. I’m in the south.

How is this going to work? Exactly the same as it has previously under T3. Drink only allowed with meal. Meal cannot be a snack. Meal with classified as something with a side. Many pubs did deals with local takeaway or food trucks so they could stay open although they don't usually serve food. There were lots of innovative ideas. Others just decided to close as it wasn't financially worthwhile opening.

Well that bit about sides is a stupid waste of food and money for people with small apetites. Last time I went to the pub at Halloween the fish finger sandwhich stuffed me, although was made with doorstep bread! £2.50 for a side of chips is more than my stomach capacity can handle, especially if washing it down with a pint of cider.

I'm looking forwards to supporting country pubs again. That one only opened in August after being renovated after a couple of years of closure.

This was the reality in my tier 3 area before lockdown.

What It tends to mean is a group go in buy food with their drinks, eat their food and then have more drinks.

What it stops is pub crawls. It also screws over the pubs who can't open.

Just the thought of a substantial meal makes me feel a bit queasy, in a pub it generally means a big pile of chips to make the meal look substantial, yuk, no wonder so many are overweight in the UK

@TheAlphaandtheOmega

Just the thought of a substantial meal makes me feel a bit queasy, in a pub it generally means a big pile of chips to make the meal look substantial, yuk, no wonder so many are overweight in the UK

How very weird. A substantial meal in a pub could be any number of things, many of them without chips. The pubs where I live do fantastic food.

Just the thought of a substantial meal makes me feel a bit queasy, in a pub it generally means a big pile of chips to make the meal look substantial, yuk, no wonder so many are overweight in the UK

You have serious food issues and no idea about what is served

"Just the thought of a substantial meal makes me feel a bit queasy, in a pub it generally means a big pile of chips to make the meal look substantial, yuk, no wonder so many are overweight in the UK"

What pub do you go to?

Not everything is with chips. The point of a 'substantial' meal is to stop people buying a side order just to get around the rules and then stay there drinking.

There's an awful lot of people for whom going out every now and then to meet friends for a drink during the day, who don't want to either eat or can't afford a 'substantial' meal, will be left out.

@Ifailed

There's an awful lot of people for whom going out every now and then to meet friends for a drink during the day, who don't want to either eat or can't afford a 'substantial' meal, will be left out.

There is still the option to meet up for a coffee with friends. It's much better than not being able to meet up at all.

They can meet their friends elsewhere. That's like saying I feel left out because there is no one to look after the boys while dh and I go out for dinner.

Its just the thought that you would have to add lots of extra stuff to a perfectly nice meal to make it 'substantial', I usually have something quite light.

@Ifailed There's no mixing of households inside in Tier 2, so no-one is going to be able to go to a pub to meet friends for a drink. Unless they want to eat a substantial meal outside, which in January ain't going to be much fun. So, lovely for couples and households, not so lovely for singles.

Is it going to be that you can only go to restaurant with your own household only in tier 3.

@ApolloandDaphne, drinking a cup of coffee in a chain store is not the same as going to a pub where you are a regular, where you know most of the people and where you may have been going to for years.