# Underage drinking, restaurants, and YOU **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021 "2005-03-30T23:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/21 "2005-03-31T19:20:03Z")
I stand corrected. I had been under the impression that all states were prohibited from allowing alcohol to be provided to those under 21. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/22 "2005-03-31T19:40:49Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > I see **Max Torque** found the same laws. Found 'em? Heck I’ve _prosecuted_ 'em! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/23 "2005-03-31T19:41:27Z")
> [@aaslatten](#): > > It might also be worth pointing out that “champeroned” drinking in Texas is allowed, Is that drinking champagne in the presence of a chaperone? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/24 "2005-03-31T19:49:26Z")
> [@aaslatten](#): > > 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. Well, **Max Torque** was actually first to the line, he posted while I was still looking it up. I knew, from growing up in Texas, that minors could drink if supervised by a guardian (hey, only in Texas, It’s A Whole Nuther Country or something…) but it took me a couple of minutes to find a link. At least I knew that _used_ to be the law, my Googling was an attempt to see if the law had recently (hah, recently…I haven’t been a minor in recent memory) been changed. And you’re right, I doubt that an establishment would be obligated to serve a minor even if a parent purchased the alcohol. “We may refuse service to anyone” would be a lot safer than getting your license revoked for serving to a minor. My dad used to buy me beer in the pool hall when I was a minor, but it was the type of establishment that wouldn’t have been too concerned as to the letter of the law. Around here, nothing was unusual about a dad buying his boy a beer. I was 18 for a couple of months before I graduated high school, I was able to legally buy booze while I was in high school (the drinking age in Texas was 18 then, and I was already 20 IIRC when they raised it to 19, and over 21 when it was raised to 21. I have a bit of experience with legal age and alcohol consumption in Texas). ---
**Author:** ![dlack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/25 "2005-03-31T20:09:09Z")
New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, Article 5, Section 65-c: > [@](#): > > S 65-c. Unlawful possession of an alcoholic beverage with the intent > to consume by persons under the age of twenty-one years. > > 1. Except as > hereinafter provided, no person under the age of twenty-one years shall > possess any alcoholic beverage, as defined in this chapter, with the > intent to consume such beverage. > 2. **A person under the age of twenty-one years may possess any > alcoholic beverage with intent to consume if the alcoholic beverage is > given:** > (a) to a person who is a student in a curriculum licensed or > registered by the state education department and the student is required > to taste or imbibe alcoholic beverages in courses which are a part of > the required curriculum, provided such alcoholic beverages are used only > for instructional purposes during class conducted pursuant to such > curriculum; or > (b) **to the person under twenty-one years of age by that person`s > parent or guardian.** [http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=5&a=6](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=5&a=6) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/26 "2005-03-31T20:58:13Z")
Whoa. So if I’m a teacher in New York, I can bring in beers for my class to help them relax during a test? I don’t think that’s quite what that exception (a) is supposed to mean, but I’m having a hard time figuring out just what it is supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/27 "2005-03-31T21:01:52Z")
Having worked the service industry in both states in question, I can say that servers are taught that if they do this (sell to someone who provides it to a minor), then they can be fired, fined and/or jailed. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/28 "2005-03-31T21:03:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whoa. So if I’m a teacher in New York, I can bring in beers for my class to help them relax during a test? I don’t think that’s quite what that exception (a) is supposed to mean, but I’m having a hard time figuring out just what it is supposed to mean. Just a guess here, but I would think that this would apply to culinary institutions where the relation of food and drink is an important part of the student’s education. Best to all, plynck ---
**Author:** ![dlack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/29 "2005-03-31T21:09:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whoa. So if I’m a teacher in New York, I can bring in beers for my class to help them relax during a test? I don’t think that’s quite what that exception (a) is supposed to mean, but I’m having a hard time figuring out just what it is supposed to mean. I know my local community college has a bartending course. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/30 "2005-03-31T22:37:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whoa. So if I’m a teacher in New York, I can bring in beers for my class to help them relax during a test? I don’t think that’s quite what that exception (a) is supposed to mean, but I’m having a hard time figuring out just what it is supposed to mean. This sounded weird to me too, but my first thought was that it has something to do with allowing underage students to participate in alcohol-awareness programs in which participants drink under controlled conditions in order to learn the effects of alcohol first-hand. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/31 "2005-03-31T22:41:57Z")
> [@dlack](#): > > I know my local community college has a bartending course. At most bartending courses (or, at least those I’ve ever heard of) alcohol was not actually handled or used. At the course I took a few years ago (just for fun, long after I’d stopped bartending, but you never know…) we used colored water in bottles with regular labels on them to practice mixing drinks. However, any course on vinting or oenology will probably have you tasting wine. I don’t know if colleges offer classes on beer brewing or distillation but I’d image they’d be the same. It’s not part of any class, but I know the UW-Madison Student Union sells good beer really cheap. Hmmm…maybe I should put that on my list of grad schools to consider. I know they’ve got a great fusion physics program… Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/32 "2005-03-31T23:21:46Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > 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. In the U.S., except for Wisconsin that is, where the first two are valid cause for exceptions. Many states used to have younger drinking ages than 21, but were blackmailed into raising them to 21, or else face losing interstate highway funds. Notwisthstanding that, underage drinking laws are enforced at the state level, and we should avoid using terms like “in the U.S.” for the benefit of our non-American members since it might lead some to think that it’s some kind of Federal statute. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/33 "2005-03-31T23:28:53Z")
On postview I see that my point was already made by several others. That’s what I get for not reading to the end of the thread. slaps self on wrist; slinks off ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/34 "2005-03-31T23:42:16Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > 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. > > [106.05~106.06](http://www.gdcada.org/coalitions/aloud/law.htm) In Pennsylvania, it’s even illegal for a parent or guardian to supply alcohol to their own children. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/35 "2005-04-01T03:06:34Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > 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. In Louisiana, specifically New Orleans and the surrounding area, a person between 18 and 21 can legally be in certain bars. The bar can’t sell that person alcohol and only the parents or spouse (over 21) can purchase alcohol for that person. Parents can purchase alcohol for someone under 21 to drink in a restaurant/bar & grille type place (that might be between 18 and 21…don’t remember) if that establishment will allow it…the establishment has the right to say no to ANYONE under 21 if they want to. Incidentally, someone 18 to 21 CAN legally drink, but there’s only a couple of ways they can legally get it, which usually doesn’t happen. We have a “Responsible Vendors Program” here which is statewide and you’re required to take anually to get a permit to dispense alcohol. Bartenders, convenience store clerks, and anyone who works anywhere that alcohol is sold is required to take this class. They actually test you on all this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/36 "2005-04-01T04:18:54Z")
In NJ, those under the legal drinking age may not have alcohol in a bar or restaurant. Period. My daughter is a bartender, and tells me that some places have house rules such that, if there are a group of over- and under-age young folks at the same table, no one at that table will be served alcoholic beverages. If parents and children are at the same table and the parents are observed to pass drinks to the child, they will be told to not do that; if they persist, the table will not be served any more alcohol. As a practical matter, a parent giving a child a sip of a cocktail would probably not be noticed. Technically speaking, you aren’t even supposed to give alcohol to your own child in your own home; as a practical matter it’s unlikely that your home is going to be raided during a family meal. However, if any child, including your own, is seen in public to be intoxicated because you gave them alcohol, you could be in big trouble. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/37 "2005-04-01T15:06:39Z")
You beat me to it, **jasonH300**. I just took the class last night. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/38 "2005-04-01T15:43:55Z")
I believe that until a few years ago, in New Orleans it was illegal for a minor to buy alcohol, or to buy alcohol for a minor, but it was not illegal to sell alcohol to a minor. This loophole made it surpassingly easy for minors to buy alcohol in the city, and we teenagers had a grand old time barhopping there before they closed the loophole. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/39 "2005-04-01T15:57:26Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Many states used to have younger drinking ages than 21, but were **blackmailed** into raising them to 21, or else face losing interstate highway funds. [emphasis added] Regarding ths use of the emphasized word, does this constitute a statement of _fact_? Isn’t GQ the repository of factual information? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021/40 "2005-04-01T17:24:03Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Regarding ths use of the emphasized word, does this constitute a statement of _fact_? Isn’t GQ the repository of factual information? Well, the word used was “blackmail.” And that’s what happened. What’s the non-fact here? [Google definition of blackmail](http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Ablackmail&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underage-drinking-restaurants-and-you/297021.md?page=3)