I'd appreciate some advice on the drinking laws in the USA.
This summer we're planning to be in various parts of the USA. Certainly New York and Los Angeles and perhaps Las Vegas and/or Portland. We'll be bringing my stepdaughter with us. She is 16.
In the UK she's allowed into pubs at the landlord's discretion as long as she only drinks soft drinks. In restaurants she is (I think) allowed to drink wine with a meal (well, no-one ever seems to object). In many European countries we find similar (or even more lax) laws.
Now, I'm well aware that in most US states the legal drinking age is 21 so I'm not planning on trying to buy her drinks in bars or restaurants, but I'd like to know how much it will impact our trip just having her with us. Will bars allow her in if she sits with us and drinks soft drinks? Does it vary from bar to bar? Or state to state? Will we need to carefully plan which bars to visit?
Any advice appreciated.
In bars and pubs [ read not restaurants with bars attached ] 95%+ percent of the time you will not be able to get in with a 16 year old, period. This doesn't generally vary from state to state unless it is a special event like an 'all ages' concert at a pub or out in podunk USA where the bartender married the sister of the sheriff. In restaurants with bars, you can sit at the bar until the restaurant closes and then they'll kick out the underage. A lot of places in the US also won't accept a passport for proof of age, only a drivers license, etc. Supposedly this reduces the liabilty from fraud as if the liquor police show up and bust the bar, everyone has a very, very sad night with fines for everyone from the owner down to the glass washer if they find an underage kid in the pub, drinking or not.
I used to bartend and no matter how much I wanted to serve a 19 or 20 year old kid I just wouldn't as the fines are too steep to take the risk. I imagine you'll have a very hard time going to pubs with the 16 year old so maybe look into late restaurants and package liquor.
Re:well...
davorg on 2003-02-05T12:31:26
95%+ percent of the time you will not be able to get in with a 16 year oldI was afraid that would be the case.
Obviously as visitors to the country we'll be happy to abide by their laws and we really don't want to get anyone fined. It's just a real shame that the US laws seem so out of step with most of the rest of the world.
Re:well...
md5 on 2003-02-05T15:15:24
It's just a real shame that the US laws seem so out of step with most of the rest of the world.
Amen!
I agree in general with Elaine, but to answer your question fully, it varies from state to state. Rarely, it varies by county.
In Indiana, for example, under-21 is not allowed to enter a bar at all, although they can go into a restaurant that serves alcohol. In California, they can enter any establishment, but are not allowed to drink. Utah has a very strange set of laws that I can't even begin to explain.
These are to the best of my knowledge, IANAL, etc., etc.
Re:State laws vary
hfb on 2003-02-05T17:21:53
and sometimes by town...:) Massachusetts has at least 3 dry towns that I'm aware of though there are probably a lot more.
I blame the damn pilgrims
:)
If there's no sign on the door saying otherwise, you ought to be safe bringing her in (unless its in a bad part of town, etc.
There are two classes of places that serve alcohol for on-premises consumption in Oregon. Let's call them "restaurants" and "bars", although the OLCC actually calls them all "restaurants" to distinguish them from "stores", since they are all required to serve food even if they are a "bar" in the traditional sense.
A "bar" is some place where kids can't go, period. There are lots of those. They're often dark and seedy, so there's really no need to wander in with a kid anyway. The food they serve is often the OLCC minimum list (some hot items, some cold items), and often not really a good place to go for food. You won't miss anything by avoiding them.
A "restaurant" is typically primarily a food consumption place. It may have an internal partitioned bar
(see previous slide
Both restaurants and bars will have visible OLCC signs either just outside or in the entryway stating "minors are forbidden" or "minors are permitted during the hours of $start to $end and only for the purpose of consuming food". Yes, even restaurants can have limited hours for minors.
Most of Oregon's brewpubs are restaurants, not bars, and I'd definitely recommend checking them out.
Now for the bizarre rule of the day. Whether it's a restaurant or a bar (or a restaurant with a bar section), all Oregon Lottery machines and hard liquor displays must be specifically shielded from minors, even to the degree of building a special little semi-room around the machines. We can't have them seeing the adult vices until they're old enough, you see. Yeah, too weird. Luckily, beer taps are not hard liquor bottles, so they can be in plain view even in a restaurant.
Re:For What It's Worth
dha on 2003-02-17T05:50:40
Kind of the same here. Having a beard helps, but is probably not an option.:-)
I have no idea what the actual rules are in NY, as no one usually pays them a whole lot of attention. But every once in a while they do.
I'll try to check, though.
