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Original poster

If they re open pubs with alcohol ban in April Will many go

117 replies

IsitSummeryet21 · 06/02/2021 10:00

Just seen it come on my news feed that there's talks of pubs re opening April with alcohol ban.
Can you really see many going?
I don't go to the pub often. Maybe 3 times a year max for a meal and don't drink anyway but obviously the vast majority of people probably have an alcoholic beverage.

Lots of pubs around here have your regulars that are in there noon till Night supping a few pints, my dsf is one that only goes for a few pints. Would never eat or buy a soft drink.

Would it be a good move?

OP posts:
TheCatThatGotTheCream · 06/02/2021 13:58

I'd go, its somewhere to sit and have a meal and even a soft drink besides staring at my own 4 walls

HauntedPencil · 06/02/2021 14:03

Definitely- it's probably aimed at food pubs rather than a "wet pub"

Siepie · 06/02/2021 15:38

I can only think of one pub in my area that anyone would ever choose to go to for the food.

The others either don't have a kitchen, or have a very limited menu of reheated ready meals

I would go to a restaurant without alcohol.

Ellmau · 06/02/2021 15:52
Defaultname · 06/02/2021 16:13

There's a history of Temperance Bars, which were said a few years ago to be making a comeback: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_bar

Porcupineintherough · 06/02/2021 16:22

Lots if foodie pubs near here and I'm sure they'd be at capacity if the opened. Lots if people desperate for a change.

Pastanred · 06/02/2021 16:25

why are people debating this?
its been dismissed out right?!

lurker101 · 06/02/2021 16:29

I would go if some of our local favourites opened. Mainly out of principle and to support them. The publicans have had such a tough year having to repeatedly plan to open, then pour their stock down the drain. If going for a few weeks and buying Diet Cokes means that they can pay their rent so they can stay open later in the year for my favourite tipple I’d definitely do it

yearinyearout · 06/02/2021 16:32

It's such a bloody ridiculous idea. What will they come up with next? I understand opening pubs that maybe you can only mix with your own household/only outside, that makes some sense. But opening a pub without serving alcohol is just bollocks. I can't see any of our local pubs doing that.

cheeseismydownfall · 06/02/2021 16:39

I might, begrudgingly, but it would only be to support our village pub. If I'm going to the expense of a meal out I want to enjoy a glass of wine.

MmeLaraque · 06/02/2021 16:44

I suspect that people will go, because they *can, just like during the "eat out to help out" fiasco. I won't, and neither would my loved ones. Not during this pandemic. Respiratory viruses don't have any respect for rules or exemptions, or anything. So no.

To be fair, there aren't many places we'd eat out in the first place, because our budget was tight, and we're both good cooks, so we just enjoy a nice dinner at home, with a bottle of wine.

Howshouldibehave · 06/02/2021 16:52

The last time I went to a pub was back when we were Tier 1 and we could go to eat/drink with someone from another household-that’s why I went. I wanted to see a friend and we weren’t allowed to go in each other’s houses.

If the new plan is going to be that you can meet people from other households inside in a pub for a meal, but not have a drink, then yes, I probably would. Just so that I could see friends. Especially for lunches.

If, as in Tier 2+, you will only be able to go to the pub with people in your own household, then no-I would just go to the kitchen with my family for dinner, where there is also wine!

StrangerHereMyself · 06/02/2021 17:05

My local has been doing lunches aimed at people WFH over the last year when it’s been open - naice fishfinger sandwich and chips, that sort of thing. I might do that with a bitter lemon every now and then, but I don’t think it’s a viable business model.

When we were on holiday in the English countryside last summer we ate most of our meals in the gardens of lovely riverside pubs, and would have done so even if they’d been dry. I think pubs like that where the destination is attractive in itself would have a viable business model for the spring/summer/early autumn months, especially if you were allowed to meet outside your household at outside tables, but most pubs would not find it worth opening.

Quaagars · 06/02/2021 17:18

@Pastanred

The government have already dismissed this
This. Will try to find the article I read it in, but they definitely said that they would not be opening without alcohol, as and I quote, what would be the point of that? Trust all the usual suspects to be click baiting and whipping people up though.
SaltyTootsieToes · 06/02/2021 17:20

I can understand why they propose no alcohol. I wish perhaps they could introduce a limit but then also understand his difficult that would be to monitor

Yes. I’d go. I’d have an alcohol free g&t (or a few) with my meal.

murbblurb · 06/02/2021 17:24

can't see it working with what a poster upthread correctly refers to as the UK drinking culture. That is you go out to get hammered, and if you can remember the evening it wasn't worth it. Being disgustingly drunk is seen as a joke or a good thing, rather than the skanky behaviour that it is. More than one gappie has had a rude shock abroad on finding that most countries see being drunk as exacerbation not mitigation. Time it was the same here.

the one tiny bonus of covid (before the cases really rocketed) was that illness on a Saturday didn't mean that A and E would be impossible.

Lexilooo · 06/02/2021 17:28

Oh FFS can't they just make it compulsory to have a table per group and space out the tables? Then crack down on pubs not enforcing rules.

The pubs need to reopen. The majority have put loads of effort into operating safely.

Pastanred · 06/02/2021 18:19

Seriously

Are you all sat there going lalala?!?!

It’s bern dismissed all day

They’re NOT doing it!

Pastanred · 06/02/2021 18:20

Sorry

Didn’t mean to come across like that

So frustrating seeing these threads whipping up a frenzy

It was dismissed this morning as soon as it was suggested

emmathedilemma · 06/02/2021 18:24

They were open in Scotland under certain level restrictions without alcohol and only allowed to serve outside with shorter hours in lower levels. A lot of pubs didn’t bother reopening and I don’t know anyone who went to one that was! Unless the bulk of their business is food sales I don’t think it was worth their while.

Original poster
IsitSummeryet21 · 06/02/2021 18:33

Sorry this thread had been put up this morning before I'd seen anything about the gov dismissing it.

OP posts:
wizzywig · 06/02/2021 19:00

I think in the same way dessert bars/ lounges have been a total hit in Muslim areas, this could open up pubs to people who would never usually go

BeanieB2020 · 06/02/2021 19:00

Definitely wouldn't go to a pub at night for dinner if no alcohol, but I'd go for a nice ploughmans lunch on a Sunday afternoon

kowari · 06/02/2021 19:03

Maybe a two drinks with a meal rule could work?

museumum · 06/02/2021 19:08

Scotland has an alcohol ban in tier 4 and limited in tier 3. I think that fair enough. Many pubs and restaurants have said they won’t open in tier 4 and that’s fair enough. But we went to some local places for brunch (I don’t normally drink with brunch) and our nearest “traditional pub” moved to serving breakfast and lunch instead of lunch and dinner.