You are a bar owner. What do you do?

[Rick Nekieta]

You are a bar owner with a no outside food or drink policy. A person comes to you and expresses a desire to hold a business meeting there tomorrow. They are asking if it is acceptable to bring outside food on the condition that they buy multiple bottles of your top shelf liquor at premium pricing and with a generous gratuity. Conversely, they are seeking to bring outside liquor that you don't stock, but they offer to pay whatever you ask for a copious amount of food with a generous gratuity.

Do you approve or reject the request at a disclosed exception? No one is lying and they do not wish to break a stated rule without permission. Do you reject the request to avoid slippery slope arguments from patrons who witness the exception and hold the line or do you approve the one off on the condition that it was disclosed and the establishment still did ample business?

 

[Hellwalker]

Shoot them.

 

[We Are The Witches]

If you do, then (in my opinion) you need to revisit your rule and modify it, so that it states that exceptions may be made under certain conditions (that apply to this customer), in order to be consistent.

Otherwise any regular customer that understands what's happening may take it as a bribe, because that's what it comes close to: you're considering it because they're paying you extra.

I don't know how big is this bar, but if you want to make a rule that considers this while still having a no-outside-food-or-drink, then maybe you can do so that it applies to doing it regularly. So, OK, you can bring food one or two times, but after a that, you can't anymore (until maybe a month passes). This is just a stupid idea, because you need to track down who did what, and it's not a general practice I don't think, but it's a thought.

The last question/statement in your post would open other customers to ask you if they can bring food/drink in beforehand, and you'd have to comply, because there's not enough of a difference between this and them, and if you make double standards, they could get pissed off.

It's also weird that they want to bring their food, and then pay extra for other food, why not just get the one you serve? They must be bringing some succulent chinese food! Or something.

 

[Sparkletor 2.0]

If they want to have a party where they can bring their own food and drinks, they can rent out the VFW legion Hall for an afternoon.

The main reason you can't bring outside food into a restaurant is because of food poisoning lawsuits. Let's say Betty brings some rancid crab salad and everyone gets sick. Unless you can prove it was not your food that made everyone sick, the bar could be responsible for serving tainted food.

As far as the drinks, if a bar "over serves" a customer and they get into a drunken accident, the bar could be held liable. If someone brings in their own 200 proof moonshine and dies from alcohol poisoning, the bar is again responsible.

The rules are there for a reason.

 

[Neo-Nazi Rich Evans]

for meetings i would think it is okay if they still pay you and you make a profit off of the event.

 

[mindlessobserver]

The "no outside food or drink" rule is actually not just about preserving best practices for a business. There is also the health code consideration. If the outside food is brought into your establishment and the people become sick because it was improperly prepared you could become liable. It could also introduce contamination to your kitchen.

The solution therefore is not to outright ban them, its to "lease" the dining space to the party with a limited use contract in which they assume liability for the space and what is brought into it, and for consideration will agree to buy all alcohol from the establishment, along with maybe a use fee to defray the lost business on food sales that could be gained had they not taken up the space, rated for the average ticket price of the tables being used at the hours and day at the time of use.

 

[We Are The Witches]

for meetings i would think it is okay if they still pay you and you make a profit off of the event.

Say I'm a customer and I watch this, what are you going to tell me if I say in beforehand that I'm also bringing food & drinks of my own tomorrow, and that I'll be reuniting with other people as well?

 

[Rick Nekieta]

If you do, then (in my opinion) you need to revisit your rule and modify it, so that it states that exceptions may be made under certain conditions (that apply to this customer), in order to be consistent.

Otherwise any regular customer that understands what's happening may take it as a bribe, because that's what it comes close to: you're considering it because they're paying you extra.

I don't know how big is this bar, but if you want to make a rule that considers this while still having a no-outside-food-or-drink, then maybe you can do so that it applies to doing it regularly. So, OK, you can bring food one or two times, but after a that, you can't anymore (until maybe a month passes). This is just a stupid idea, because you need to track down who did what, and it's not a general practice I don't think, but it's a thought.

The last question/statement in your post would open other customers to ask you if they can bring food/drink in beforehand, and you'd have to comply, because there's not enough of a difference between this and them, and if you make double standards, they could get pissed off.

It's also weird that they want to bring their food, and then pay extra for other food, why not just get the one you serve? They must be bringing some succulent chinese food! Or something.

Sorry, I was unclear. I meant to pose this as an either/or, not both. They either buy drinks and bring food OR bring drink and buy food. I may have not been entirely clear.

 

[Neo-Nazi Rich Evans]

Say I'm a customer and I watch this, what are you going to tell me if I say in beforehand that I'm also bringing food & drinks of my own tomorrow, and that I'll be reuniting with other people as well?

i tell them that if they want to do that, they need to first arrange with me to have a business meeting here, and they will also need to buy food/drinks just like the other guys.

 

[Rick Nekieta]

I saw some quality answers. My answer would be to uncategorically deny based on the following anecdote.

I used to work pizza delivery and we made an exception for someone who was out of range on the condition that we could deny his request if we were slammed and unable to accommodate his request at that time. We literally made him aware of that it was a deniable request on EVERY CALL. One day, while megaslammed, I say "I'm sorry (insert name) but this is the situation we always talked about. We're not going to be able to accommodate you for several hours, if at all. That disclaimer I read you every time, this is the day I have to invoke the contents and you're going to have to go another route if you want food soon." At this time, he decides to launch a complaint about the service he received 8 days prior and demands to talk to a manager. We did not take his order that day or ever again.

Anyone who asks you to redraw a line to a point of their comfort will not react well when you hold the line when a second extension is requested. Or, at minimum, you are playing the odds that they won't.

I just wanted to see how others would answer this.

 

[SpergioLeonne]

Pretty hard to shut them off if they have their own booze

 

[lIllllIiiiiLLLLiiiiIIIIll]

Jeremy Usborne: You want a washing machine in the pub?
Super Hans: It'll freak 'em out! What the fuck's a washing machine doing in a pub? Jesus, I need a drink. Yeah? And boom, they'll have to have one of our organic scrumpies.
Jeremy Usborne: Right, the thing is, Hans, as I've said before, I really just think we should serve at least one lager, and nuts. You know, people like lager and nuts.
Super Hans: People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people, Jeremy.

Also

Mark Corrigan: So, the pub. What are you calling it?
Jeremy Usborne: No problem there. I mean, we're deadlocked on that, and a few other things, but I'm definitely not co-managing a pub called "Free the Paedos".


Null mentioned on MATI a week or two back that he's never heard of "Peep Show." Heresy, I say.

 

[Achtung Bitter]

I would only allow that as a closed event. I would arrange it as a private party, bar being closed for half a day.

Or I would reject it.

 

[Turquoise]

Accept the offer and use the money to hire a thug to break a rival bar owner's thumbs .

 

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

my bar doesn't need your meeting so no jog on