If I am in a restaurant, I know that I can not legally order alcohol. Is it still illegal for me to drink it, as in if someone else orders it for me?
If it matters, the states in question are TX and AR.
IANAL, but I’d say it would still be illegal. It’s usually also against the law for an adult to provide a minor with alcohol in any way. On the other hand, as an outstanding exception, Wisconsin does allow minors accompanying their parents in taverns to consume alcohol.
Depends on who the someone is. I live and grew up in Texas, and sometimes when I’d go out to eat with my parents when I was a teenager, they would order a daquiri for me. They had to order it FOR me, but there was nothing wrong with me having it.
I doubt seriously if this applies to anyone who isn’t your parent.
If it’s a boyfriend who’s old enough to be my parent? Heh. Looks like we’ll just have to see how it goes. We’re not looking to go out on the town and get rip-roaring drunk, we’re just going to a Mexican place that he says has great margaritas.
In PA:
How does the law deal with teenage drinking?
In Pennsylvania, a person under 21 commits a crime if he or she drinks, possesses, transports, buys or even tries to buy alcohol.
From this site.
Laws definitely vary state to state.
I’m pretty certain this is true of Texas as well, at least it is according to the several billion public service spots they’ve run on televisio and radio over the past year or two. Chances are, if 2 margaritas are ordered, you’ll both get carded. YMMV.
In South Carolina, I believe it’s illegal to buy alcohol for minors. You used to see signs about it up all the time, I’m not sure I’ve seen them lately though.
I’m not specifically conversant with the laws of those particular states, but in my experience in states where I’ve lived and/or bartended, it is absolutely illegal for someone else to order or purchase alcohol to be provided to a minor. In California, these regulations are enforced vigorously against the bar or restaurant in question. A single violation can result in a license being suspended for months and fines in five figures. At the bar/pool hall I frequent in Pasadena, for instance, you may not order alcohol at all unless everybody in your party is carded and is of age. Period. People bitch, but Jakes was shut down for three months for a completely incidential violation (some guy bought a beer for his 19 year old girlfriend).
You do this, you are putting the bartender and the bar on the line. So…don’t.
I’m sorry liquor laws are so screwed up, but don’t eff it up for everybody else, especially honest business owners.
Stranger
In Australia, IIRC, the law is if your:
a) over 16
b) accompanied by a parent or legal guardian
c) drinking alcohol with a meal
then it is legal.
It’s the same here in the UK.
An interesting (or not) difference between UK & US alcohol laws is also that it is not illegal for minors (in the UK the legal drinking age is 18) to possess or use alcohol, but it is illegal for them to be sold it.
OB
When I was in High School in New York State, it was supposedly common knowledge that the law was the same as this UK law. Never found out if it was true.
It wouldn’t have mattered.
If you got caught with beer by a policeman, and you were underage, they’d make you dump it out. If you argued, you’d find yourself taken home, and then you could tell your parents all about the law; that would go over real well. 
In South Dakota you can drink at age 18, if you are with your parents, or your spouse (who must be 21 or older). It is, obviously, up to the establishment if they want to allow this–the only times I have encountered this is in rural or small town bars, rather than larger, popular bars in more populated areas.
In the US:
It does not matter if you are:
-eating a meal
-with a parent
-anything else
If you are under 21, it is illegal for you to posess, consume, or otherwise have it. You, your parents, the waiter, and the restaurant all face legal sanctions. There are no exceptions.
CynicalGabe, http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/LegalDrinkingAge.html Scroll nearly to the bottom.
Here is a summary of the drinking laws in the UK:
I submit this for your education only. I’m not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, § 106.04. CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL BY A MINOR:
(a) A minor commits an offense if he consumes an alcoholic beverage.
(b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the alcoholic beverage was consumed in the visible presence of the minor’s adult parent, guardian, or spouse.
Keep in mind also Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, § 106.06, PURCHASE OF ALCOHOL FOR A MINOR; FURNISHING ALCOHOL TO A MINOR:
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section, a person commits an offense if he purchases an alcoholic beverage for or gives or with criminal negligence makes available an alcoholic beverage to a minor.
(b) A person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor’s adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.
Not in Texas. A minor can drink alcohol is it is furnished by and consumed in the presence of a parent or adult legal guardian.
I see Max Torque found the same laws.
Thanks, Duke, for the correction. I really wish people would not post incorrect statements with such absolute certainty.
It might also be worth pointing out that “champeroned” drinking in Texas is allowed, but it is still at the discretion of the restaurant manager/server. So they don’t have to serve you just because you’re with a parent/guardian, but they may choose to do so.