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.

@Feckers2018

In the NW some wet pubs offered just chips or tiny pizzas more or less for free. Pathetic. Tier 3 did not work at all.

It has worked better in some places than others. And the big this is how long it takes to work. It seems to only have affect after 3 or 4 weeks.

@PurpleDaisies

Tier 3 did not work at all.

That’s not what public health have been saying.

I live in a tier 3 area. Cases went through the roof in September and then peaked. They were starting to come down before we went into tier 3. We were only in tier 3 for a week or two before these new restrictions came in and they have made a difference.

Tier 3 wasn't much more than tier 2 with a few pub closures, although was a bit stricter on households mixing, not that people took any notice.

Im inthe NW some wet pubs offered just chips or tiny pizzas more or less for free. Pathetic. Tier 3 did not work at all
I dont know where you are Feckers2018 but this just didnt happen where I am (Liverpool city region). All pubs that didnt serve food closed down and those that do insisted on you having a main meal and you got a time slot. As for it not working at all we went from top 5 in the table to now being lower than average and in the 200s. This may also be due to other factors but you cant say tier 3 didnt work when results show otherwise

Of FGS, as others have said, this has been the case in large parts of the country before the lockdown and a substantial meal can be a salad for all of those who faint at the idea of a few chips, it just means you can’t order a packet of peanuts at the bar and call that a meal.

@XiCi

Im inthe NW some wet pubs offered just chips or tiny pizzas more or less for free. Pathetic. Tier 3 did not work at all I dont know where you are Feckers2018 but this just didnt happen where I am (Liverpool city region). All pubs that didnt serve food closed down and those that do insisted on you having a main meal and you got a time slot. As for it not working at all we went from top 5 in the table to now being lower than average and in the 200s. This may also be due to other factors but you cant say tier 3 didnt work when results show otherwise

Agreed. I am also in LCR and we have gone from being in top 10 to now being less than 150 per 100k The decline started when we were in tier 3 and restrictions from lockdown would only have kicked into the numbers in the last week Tier 3 definitely worked here. Although it won't all be about pubs

Tier 3 means pubs are shut unless doing takeaway. Tier 2 is household only

Well it won't work if people are deliberately obtuse and looking for any loophole for getting round it, bombarding staff who are charged with making sure these rules are adhered to with stupid questions and arguing about what the rules mean.

It's really quite simple, go to a pub/restaurant, order a round of drinks and a meal at the same time. Drink your drinks while your meal comes and order some more if you want. Finish your meal, pay your bill, leave.

I'm so glad I left hospitality when I did, threads like this make me feel desperately sorry for my friends still in hospitality dealing with shit like this on top of everything else.
I hope wet pubs are supported in some way, but to be honest they've been a dying breed for a while. Shame.

Does anyone else feel a bit sick at the term “wet pubs”?

@PurpleDaisies

In some of the dives places I've worked in in years gone by, wet could have referred to the walls/floors/, ceilings rather than the lack of food on sale 🤮

Well, it always seemed a shame that pubs that are predomibatlycreataurants were treated in the same way as a standing room only drinking pub like Yates.

It's not unusual for families, friends or couples to go out for a meal together, book a table, 2 hours in the pub eating and drinking, pay the bill, go. With friends and DH we'd typically move on to a 'drinking' pub for another drink, but for me, the main event is the eating out.
The whole idea is so people book a table, stay seated at their table, don't c sirens too many hours in an enclosed space losing inhibitions and social distancing.

This isn't about seeing our hard to follow rules for people to get around pub closures, it's about letting pubs which serve food, continue to do so, and letting others follow their model of they want to open.

It's a stupid rule, but it's not hard to understand/follow. I doubt many pubs will be kicking people out the second they've finished their dinner if they want a pint or two or afterwards.

I used to work at a restaurant, not fancy or anything, that did just that. Order your food and you can have max 3 drinks per burger + chips. We’d write it on the back of the receipt when you’d order another drink.

@PurpleDaisies

Does anyone else feel a bit sick at the term “wet pubs”?

Yes. It makes me think of "wet markets" and look where one of those got us.

I haven't read the whole thread, but it makes me think of that scene in the Inbetweeners when Will and his friends can only order 4 shandys with 4 full carvery dinners.

@tisaginthing

I haven't read the whole thread, but it makes me think of that scene in the Inbetweeners when Will and his friends can only order 4 shandys with 4 full carvery dinners.

Ha yes, it's very similar to the 16/17 year old rule where alcohol and a table meal is concerned. Can only be consumed during a table meal (with the added proviso that it's only certain drinks and bought by someone over 18)